Warframe:Innocents
by Kalenath Shok-Tan
Summary: This is a follow on to Fragments of Darkness. Some people are guilty of many things. Others are not. This is a fanfiction. I own none of the rights to Warframe.
1. Chapter 1

**Jesselle**

She was committed. She knew she did not have a lot of time. But the notice that had come forced her hand. She held the tiny bag she was taking with her in her hand as she hid in shadows. The elevator to the convent was coming back up. She did not move as the door opened and...

"And you believe her?" The Reverend Mother said softly to her companion.

"She has not said all of what drove her here." The historian who had come to see the Convent said quietly as the Reverend Mother escorted him towards the landing bays. "But her fear when you tried to mindscan her was quite clear. She was terrified. With _cause_ from what she said."

"And it is not something we can test." The Reverend Mother said with a sigh as she guided their guest. "If what she says is true, then anyone who tries to mindscan her will get the hunger."

"I fear so." The historian replied. "It... She seems a good sort."

"Key word there, 'Seems', Nicholas I-5..." The Reverend Mother's voice faded and Jesselle was in the elevator as quickly as she could. She did not know how many Clergy were in the Convent, but it wasn't likely to be many. If she could just get to the main room... She could act. Behind her, she heard a shout. "What the-? _Jessele?_" But the girl had hit the controls and the elevator started down. It was an old model. It had no overrides built in. She had a few minutes before it would reach the bottom to convince...

_Jesselle!_ Her father's mind thundered into hers. _What are you doing?_

_Dad... _Jesselle swallowed hard. She had hoped to be gone before they realized. Silly that. _I have to do this._

_Do __**what**__? _Zacharias demanded. _You are not __**allowed**__ in the Convent, girl. You are only sixteen!_

_I know. _Jesselle tried to keep her mind still as she had been taught, but her father knew her so very well.

_Jesselle..._ Her father's voice was suddenly worried. _What?_

_Look on the bed. _Jesselle said softly, aware that her father's mind was not the only one following her. _It... came this morning._

_**What**__ did, Jesselle? _This from the Reverend Mother whose mental voice was taught with sudden concern.

_The... Reproduction Control Department know about me and Jay, Reverend Mother._ A mental hush followed her soft words. _I have to go._

_Jesselle!_ Zacharias snapped. _We would __**never**__..._ That department controlled the number of chidlren allowed to each family unit within the Corpus.

_I know, Dad. _Jesselle was crying softly now. _But it would cost you. Everyone. I... can't stay._

_Jesselle, listen to me..._ The Reverend Mother said firmly. _The 'One Child' rule is not inviolate. Your father and mother filled out all the forms, went through all the tests. They knew the chances of both returning from that mission were slim. Everything was legal and witnessed. The Department __**cannot**__ order you euthanized._

If they _tried_, the word 'shitstorm' pretty much applied even _without_ Janet now being Oracle. Add who Janet was now in love with and all _hell_ would break loose. The Clergy, the Special Forces, _lots_ of people knew and liked Jesselle. And her mom.

_They haven't._ Everything stilled as Jesselle's soft words. _Read it, Dad. I... left a note too._

_Oh god no... _ Zacharias was crying now. He had found them. _Jesselle, we would never let them do it! You are underage!_

_And how __**much**__ will it cost the Clergy, Dad?_ Jesselle asked reasonably. _It won't... kill me._

_Jesselle... _ The Reverend Mother was furious now But _not_ with Jesselle. _This is either a mistake, a bureaucratic error or an attack on us. We can fix this._

_I am ordered to report today, Reverend Mother. I am going._ She palmed the tiny device she had purloined from the medical ward and injected herself quickly. Just in time. A pulse of...something slammed into her mind, but it did not take control of her. _I just gave myself six milliunits of Blocker 9._ She said as the Reverend Mother started cursing. _I will do penance for stealing from the medical ward and for damaging the elevator. I will block it temporarily._

_Jesselle..._ Her father begged _Do __**not**__ do this!_

_I love you dad._ Jesselle said sadly. _But_ _I have to. They can lay sanctions on the Clergy if they are given the chance. You know it. I know it._

_They will __**not**__ be gentle, Jesselle!_ The Reverend Mother said sternly. _You know it!_

_Let me talk to her. Jesselle..._ This voice had Jesselle quailing. She had always been a bit afraid of Sister Harriet. _You are brave, but there is no need._ The woman said, her tone emotionless. _This is a mistake. Your date of birth is wrong. The computer was __**wrong**__. This missive was not intended for you or there is a clerical error here._

_Then who? _Jesselle begged. _I know what will happen._

_No you do not, Jesselle. _Harriet replied softly. _You cannot. It is not something that can be taught or learned. If you do this, you will change. Irrevocably. You are too young still. Your body has not finished growing. Jesselle..._ Was that sorrow in the iron clad woman's mind now? _Please..._

_And if I do not go? _Jesselle asked softly. _What then?_

Silence answered her. The drug had finally kicked in completely and she relaxed. But only for a moment. The elevator was slowing. She had no idea how many Clergy personnel were in the Convent. She had minutes at best. Maybe only seconds. As the door opened, she slapped a small device to the elevator control panel. It would give her...

"Jesselle..." Kieko's voice preceded the older woman into view. "Drugging yourself was _dumb._"

"I have to do this, Sister Kieko." Jesselle said firmly. "I do not want to hurt you. But I will if I have to." Kieko went still as Jesselle hefted a small fabric object.

"What is in the socks?" Keiko asked softly as she set herself, blocking the way.

"An inert contact stunner." Jesselle said quietly as she moved into an offensive stance. "Any live devices are picked up quickly. But it isn't powered. Just mass. I do not want to hurt you, Sister Kieko. Please..."

"I cannot let you go, girl." Kieko said firmly. "You do not know what they will do to you."

"They will put me in an automated reproduction machine." Jesselle said quietly, sliding to her left. Keiko moved to match her. "It will hurt."

"If you are _lucky_, all it will do is _hurt_." Kieko said with a snap. "I have been _in_ one, before I came here." Her face turned desolate and Jesselle slumped a bit. Kieko tried so hard to be upbeat. But she had lost so much when the Grineer had attacked. She had managed to get to a survival pod when the ship her family had been on came under attack from Grineer. The rest of her extended family hadn't been so lucky. "Jesselle, if they are expecting an _eighteen year old_, then the machine they have is _set_ for an eighteen year old. You are too _small_. It will hurt you _very_ badly." She froze as Jesselle felt tears start to fall. "Jesselle?"

"I know." Jesselle said softly. "But you... will correct the mistake. Quickly I assume. If I do not go, they can and will level sanctions. If I _do_... they will run tests. Then prep. Then I go in."

"No." Kieko said softly. "Only here." Jesselle stiffened and Kieko nodded. "Elsewhere, the machines do it _all_. Maybe a flesh and blood _clerk_, but no more than that. If the machines are programmed correctly... everything is fine. Or as fine as can be. If things are...awry?" She shook her head and set herself. "You are right, you will not die. But you _will_ suffer. We will _not_ allow it."

"Sister..." Jesselle gave a squeak as Kieko moved. She wasn't perfect, far from it, but Jesselle had bare moments to dodge and counter the grab. But Keiko hadn't been going for a grab. Or... not a grab on _her!_ Jesselle tried to hold onto the socks she had made into an improvised club and failed. Kieko tore it from her hands and tossed the weapon far away. Then she stalked towards the girl. Jesselle tried a punch and it was blocked, but... Her arm went numb.

"We won't allow it." Keiko grabbed Jesselle's arm. Jesselle stared at it and Keiko smiled a bit sadly. "Nerve cluster. No damage. But you won't be able to use it for a bit. I do not want to fight, Jesselle. But I did learn self defense."

"Please, Sister Keiko." Jesselle begged. "I have to go."

"No, Jesselle." Keiko said firmly as she took Jesselle's other arm in a tight grip. "You have to listen..." She froze as Jesselle twisted her hand just a little. Just enough. "You... sneaky..." She collapsed and Jesselle caught her awkwardly, pulling the drug patch off as she did. She didn't know Keiko's mass or tolerances for sedatives.

"You did _not_ just do that." An incredulous voice sounded from a hidden speaker as Jesselle laid Keiko down gently and laid her out straight.

"Mom... was always a planner." Jesselle said softly. "Can you scan her? I didn't want to hurt her."

"Her vitals are strong." The other reassured her. "Do you have _any_ idea the _mess_ this is going to make?" This had to be Katerina even though Jesselle had never heard her voice. She sounded old and kind, but more than a little aggravated at the moment. Jesselle understood.

"Yes." Jesselle said softly. "Which is why I ask your help."

"_My_ help?" The other demanded. "What can _I_ do? I am stuck in the power systems until and unless the Reverend Mother lets me loose again."

"I have to _go_ to the reproduction facility on Venus, Sister Katerina." Jesselle said softly. "Nothing says I have to _arrive_ there."

"Jesselle..." Katerina said softly. "I cannot reprogram the portal. I _cannot_. Even if it were..." She stopped as Jesselle stepped towards a wall with a small device in hand. "Oh you _idiot_ _girl_!" The other snapped. "Where did you get _that_?" She demanded as Jesselle laid the mostly inactive Orokin key against the wall.

"Mom was a planner." Jesselle said sadly. "She had all kinds of stuff hidden. I knew where."

"Jesselle..." Katerina was crying now. "Do not do this. You have no idea what you are doing! If you use that... You are not _protected!_" The woman cried.

"I know." Jesselle said weakly. "But it can be tracked. I... know where it is going. No one else does. I am _supposed_ to go to Venus. The records will show I _tried_. They... cannot levy sanctions if I _tried_ to obey."

"_Jesselle!_" Katerina screamed as golden energy started to flare. "Don't you _dare_! Your mom will go _nuts_!"

"I know." Jesselle said weakly. "Tell her... tell her I am sorry. Tell my parents I love them. But I have to do my duty. To Company and Clergy." The elevator behind her chimed and closed, returning to the surface.

"_**Jesselle!**_" Katerina screamed louder, but the energy swirled around the girl and she was gone. "No..." The other was crying now. "No, no, no, no, no..." She was still crying when the elevator came back down with the Reverend Mother and three very irate sisters surrounding a distraught man. "I couldn't _stop_ her..." Katerina pleaded.

"Not your fault." The Reverend Mother said softly. "Track it." She commanded and the sisters leapt to obey. "We will find her Zacharias. Come with me." Zacharias just stared at where the portal was hidden in the wall, his face slack. "Zacharias, come..." She took his arm gently and guided him into smaller room. "This is not how I wanted to do this, but... Janet will need you. Bad."

"She... She just..." Zacharias swallowed hard and then he was crying. "She just..."

"I know." The Reverend Mother eased him to the floor and sat beside him, taking her hands in her own. "Come, Brother Zacharias. We need to talk to Oracle."

**Titan, Enclave of the Oracles of Saturn**

"What the?" Natalie E-12 started out of a doze as Oracle started to scream. "Oracle? What?"

She hit an emergency alarm and a quiet klaxon started warbling. All fo the attendants on duty rushed in and the ones who were on downtime woke and assumed their stations. But... nothing. Just Oracle... screaming.

"What is going on?" Francis F-87 demanded as she raced into the main room, her med gear in hand. "Oracle? What is wrong?" She went to her knees beside the pool Oracle was in and then blanched. "No! don't try to move! Oracle! Don't!"

"Have... to..." Oracle gasped out between cries of pain. "I... Jesselle... I need..."

"No." Francis F-87 said sternly as she touched the sorely hurt woman's neck with a hypo. "Sleep, Oracle."

"_You do not understand!_" Oracle screamed one final time, then lay still.

"What the hell?" Francis F-87 asked as she worked. "Natalie E-12? What happened?"

"I don't know." The younger attendant was petrified. "She just started screaming." Then she stiffened. "Wait... Jesselle..." Her eyes went huge and all of the woman shared the same stunned look. "Her daughter... Call the others?"

"Yeah." Francis F-87 said sourly. "She has hurt herself. I... I don't know how bad."

_**We come.**_ The voices were everywhere, but the women were used to such by now. Even the sudden eruption of water from the pool Janet lay in was not unexpected. But what came out of it...

"She needs urgent care." Caroline said as she moved away from the pool. Her four legs gave her a steady gait, if slow. Stood to reason, she was a turtle. Albeit one with a human mind dwelling inside it. Another form eased itself partly out of the pool, but the massive cetacean couldn't get all the way out. He didn't need to. He began treating Janet in the water. "We caught part of what she sensed. Her daughter screaming in pain and then suddenly silent."

"Not dead." Natalie E-12 begged.

"We do not know." Caroline said softly. "She is the most powerful of us. She sees further and clearer than we do. We do know it is a possible future. A very bad one. If Jesselle dies... Janet... Nikis..." She made a gulping noise and all of Oracles attendants looked worried. "It won't be good. We are focusing now, trying to refine what we sensed from her."

"What can we do, Oracle Caroline?" Juliet V-54 asked softly. "The Clergy as well stands ready. We... are very upset. This..." She shook her head. "Jesselle ran away. She took a portal that so far no one has been able to trace."

"Why would she _do_ that?" Caroline demanded. "She is safe until her eighteenth birthday, yes?" All the women nodded. "So... why...?"

"The Reverend Mother is trying to contact Oracle Janet..." Juliet V-54 said softly. "She cannot. She is querying me. I... I cannot..."

"Tell her." Caroline said firmly. Juliet V-54 swallowed and nodded. "I am going to kick some butts into gear." She paused as Juliet raised a hand. "Yes?"

"Jesselle ran because she was ordered to report to a reproduction facility." Juliet V-54 said softly. All of the quiet activity in the room stopped as everyone stared at her. She was pale. "That... makes no sense. She is only _sixteen_. She is not finished _growing_. It would hurt or _kill_ her."

"The Clergy would have protected her." Francis F-87 said weakly.

"And probably faced sanctions for doing so." Juliet agreed. "None of us would have _minded_. She is a good kid. But...she didn't want us to suffer for her. So... she ran. Somewhere. She used a defunct key to activate an Orokin portal built into the walls of the Convent."

"Aw crap." Caroline said with feeling. "okay, med techs, help Jean. Everyone else, start collating the data again. New search parameters. _Find_ _Jesselle_."

"Yes Ma'am."All of the others bent to their terminals. Francis F-87 knelt down by Janet's still form and spoke to the squid treating her.

"She was trying to get out of the pool." Francis F-87 said softly. "She hurt her spine."

_I know._ The voice of Oracle who was the dedicated medic of sorts was soft and worried in her mind. _For now, all we can do is immobilize and treat the swelling. We shall see what damage was done when she wakes._

"I... I tried..." Francis F-87 said weakly, only to pause as a small tentacle touched her hand. It was.. gentle.

_Not your fault._ The ancient cetacean replied. _Now, let us tend her together._

"Right."

**Venus**

"Ma'am... I don't know what..." The functionary cut himself off as the Special Forces soldier behind the Reverend Mother raised his Tetra rifle and took aim. "I don't know what you _mean!_ No orders came through here for a girl by that name!"

"Then what is _this_?" The Reverend Mother laid a datapad on the man's desk and he stared at it as if it were venomous. "It looks like an order to report, no?" She shook her head. "And it utterly ignores the points that _one_, the girl is underage and _two_, she is exempt until her brother is _of age_ due to her brother needing care."

Unless she was very much mistaken, this man had _no_ idea what she was talking about. Which was bad. Very bad. If this was trap or a trick... They still had _no_ idea where Jesselle was. If the girl had come here, then she might be hurt, but would be recoverable easily. If she wasn't...

"You and I are going to _physically_ verify that she is not here, Administrator Gorl U-43." The Reverend Mother said firmly. "If I find you have _lied_ to me..." She trailed off menacingly and the man looked as if he wanted to soil his pants.

"That is... your right." The administrator said softly. "In the case of a mistake or a clerical error, the Clergy has the authority. But Ma'am..." He said softly. "She _would_ have come through here. I have been on shift for five hours. I have not seen her. She would have come in the same portal you did. She _didn't_."

"I need to check anyway." The Reverend Mother said with a sigh. "But you are probably right. Heaven only knows where she wound up."

"But if we don't find her, _hell_ will find _us_."


	2. Chapter 2

**Turbulence**

Down was up. Up was down. Her eyes hurt. Burned actually. She forced them shut. She could hear someone screaming, but she could not tell who it was. Jesselle was whirling through things, unable to see, unable to speak. She could feel. But she could not. She tried to focus her mind as she had been taught and...

"Whoa!" A startled male voice sounded from close at hand. "What the _hell_?" Something grabbed her and held her tight as she was whirled again. The world... stabilized. "A new player?"

Jesselle tried to reply, but... she couldn't. She tried to open her eyes, but she couldn't. She tried to...

"No." Another voice said sharply. Female, annoyed. "Not a player. How the hell?"

"I do not know." The male said quietly. "Girl, girl..." The hands holding her moved a bit, easing her. "Can you hear me?" Jesselle tried to respond and could not. "Oh dear. She is hurt."

"So?" The other demanded. "We _were_ playing."

"We need to report this." The male voice said sternly. "Anything new or unusual needs to be reported. You know the rules."

"We were _playing_. I _had_ you!" The woman snapped.

"_Did_ you?" The other asked dryly. "Did you see the rook at queen's level four?" The other gasped and then snarled. Jesselle quailed a bit and the hands that held her were gentle. "Easy, girl. Let's get you some help. Defer game until later or do you _yield_?" The tone was vicious now.

"Later." The woman snapped. A rustle sounded and the man sighed.

"_All_ this time and she falls for a level _one_ trick. Silly woman." The male said sourly. "Not even worth the effort." He sighed and Jesselle felt herself hefted into someone's arms. She struggled feebly. "Easy, girl..." The man crooned. "I need a Guardian." His tone was oddly formal now. "I have an oddity." Something went whoosh nearby. "Thank you for the quick response, Guardian. We have a problem."

"So I see." Another male voice replied, his own voice neutral. "What happened?"

"I was playing four dimensional chess with Gana90876523 when she appeared in the middle of the board." The male said as a hand touched Jesselle's forehead. It felt... like metal. "She seems feverish and she cannot seem to speak. I doubt she can see either."

"This is... familiar." The other male said softly. "Oh no..."

"Guardian?" The first voice asked as Jesselle felt him tense. "What is wrong?"

"She is in Void shock." The one called 'Guardian' said softly. The first voice hissed and the other sighed. "Yes. Not something we have seen for some time. She is human." His voice was speculative. "She cannot remain here. The longer she is here, the worse it will get for her. The energies... react badly to corporeal forms.."

"What... What can we do?" The first voice pleaded. "Not _all_ of us are self centered fools, Guardian. And how did she get here? The Void is _lethal_ to unprotected humans. Let alone the database..."

"If she is _lucky_ it will kill her." The other said in a dark tone. Then he sighed. "Very _few_ of you are self centered fools, statistically." The Guardian replied. "But those _few_..." He took a deep breath. "Trinity is coming. She can help. Word of advice..." He warned. "She is _rather_ annoyed."

"Can't really blame her." The other said quietly. "What do I do?"

"Give her to me." A crisp female voice sounded and Jesselle felt movement. Then she was on -or _in_\- something warm. "Girl..." The voice was maternal, kind and gentle as something washed over her. "Girl? Can you hear me?" Jesselle forced her head into a nod but pain flared and the woman made a noise of worry. "Easy... You can hear, but not speak or see. We have to get you out of here. Now. The shock is getting worse."

"Where can we send her?" The second male voice asked, concern in his voice. "There are not many access points left on the other side where we can send a corporeal being through."

"I do _not_ want to know!" The first voice declared. "I hope you can help her, Guardians." A whoosh sounded.

"Not a bad sort, for an Orokin." The woman said quietly as something rubbed Jesselle's arm gently.

"Trinity..." The other warned.

"She won't remember this." The one called Trinity said firmly. "Or it will all be fever dreams. Incoherent. But we need to send her _now_. She is already in stage two. If she gets to stage four... she _will_ Change."

"How many?" The other asked. "I will send out a call for others."

"Four I think..." The one called Trinity said and then her voice firmed. "Four plus us will work. I have a location. At last report it was habitable."

"That is not _saying_ much Trinity. The other complained. "Ah..." He had a smile in his voice now. "Brothers, Sister. We have an unintended guest who needs to go back before irreversible changes occur. Will you aid?"

"What kind of a question is _that_?" A sour male voice demanded. "She obviously cannot stay here. We have our hands full as it _is_."

"Agreed." The one called Trinity replied and then Jesselle was falling again.

**Some time later**

"She was _here_?" Nikis demanded as he stared around the unending golden landscape that comprised the Orokin database.

All around him, golden shades of Tenno stood wary. He wasn't in a good mood. And when the ancient gunfighter Tenno Guardian of the Dead was not in a good mood, _no one_ was. Add to that, the Tenno who were closest to him had known him the longest. The First Tenno stood with his first apprentices, of which Nikis had been one. Trinity stood just in front of the Nekros, her posture abject.

"Yeah." Trinity shook her head. "We couldn't keep her here, Nikis. She was a mess. If she had stayed..."

"She would have been Changed by the energy." Nikis said sourly. "Dang that girl. Her mom is already upset. Where did you send her?" None of the Tenno shades would meet his gaze and he went still. "Oh no... You _didn't_..."

"Nikis... it was all I could think of." Trinity said softly. "Most of the old ways are shut from here. She was... She was going into stage _three_." She pleaded. "What was I _supposed_ to do?"

"I am not mad at you, Trinity." Nikis said with a sigh as he reached out and patted her arm. Here, he could touch the normally insubstantial shades. "I am mad at the girl and whoever the hell set her on this path." He retracted his hand and shook his head. "You did as you ought. The living have no place here. The Balance must be maintained."

"We maintain the Balance." The words were soft from each warframe, but there were so many shades it sounded like thunder across the golden plain. And this was only one of many, many such plains that comprised the database.

"That we do." Nikis said softly. "The other Guardians of the Dead are apprised of that hole. It will be sealed." He shook his head slowly. "Trinity? How bad?"

"Loss of motor control." The eldest Tenno who wore a Trinity warframe said quietly. "She couldn't see or speak. But she could hear. She wasn't Changed, Nikis."

"We will need to check her thoroughly." Nikis said heavily. "She will not enjoy that. But... not there."

"Nikis..." Trinity protested, but then she sighed. "No, we cannot trust them, can we?"

"The new Reverend Mother has allied herself and her followers with the Lotus." Nikis said quietly. "But for all we know, they _could_ have altered her. Somehow we cannot detect. That is what the Sentients did." He bowed his head. "We ward. We watch. We wait. We remember."

"We remember." The chorus was softer this time. Sadder.

"Only time will tell if the Clergy can be trusted or not." Nikis said when the echoes had faded. "Now I better get to Avalon before Eliza has a stroke." The others looked at him and he shrugged. "No, I didn't let them lock me out."

"Anywhere else I could have sent her, Nikis..." Trinity said heavily. "...it would have been worse. At least they won't kill her out of hand."

"No." Nikis agreed. "But then again... They may not let her leave."

"But she will be _alive_." Trinity said with a nod that Nikis shared. "Stay safe, you crazy man." She reached out and embraced him. After a moment, he returned it. "You worried us."

"Worried myself." Nikis admitted and then he struggled loose from the Trinity. "Let go! You are ruining my macho image."

"Right." Trinity said with a snort. "You silly man. You okay?"

"Closer than I have been for a long time." Nikis said with a nod. "We shall see how this goes. Janet... hurt herself. We are not sure how bad." He said as the Tenno surrounding him went still. "The girl is her biological daughter. I need to make sure she is okay, then I get back to Janet."

"If we can do anything without upsetting the Balance..." Trinity said formally as others around them nodded. "Let us know."

"I will."

**Avalon**

It was difficult to say who was more upset. The Royal Guard were all icy polite but all knew better than to anger Nikis. Eliza was furious. But she too knew better than to anger Nikis. Princess Michelle now...

"And they sent the girl _here?_" Michelle demanded as she stood with her mother. They both were staring at a monitor which showed Jesselle being tended by medics. "_Here_ of all places?"

"Princess Michelle..." Nikis said with exaggerated patience. "Where _else_ could they have sent her? They didn't know who she was, just that she was a kid who was exposed to Void energy and suffering from it. The database is _not_ a safe place for corporeal forms even when they are not hurt by such. She was _minutes_ away from being changed permanently by the energy, Princess. Trinity had to make the call and she made the _right_ one. The living have no place there."

"How the hell did she get in there?" Eliza snapped, her eyes on the screen. "I thought it was all virtual."

"It is." Nikis said with a shrug. "But there _is_ a physical component. She managed to travel to it somehow. Her key... is really messed up. I am surprised she came _out_ the other side." Michelle went still and Eliza swallowed hard, her ire forgotten. "That does leave us with a problem however."

"She is Clergy. Linked to them. She cannot stay here." Eliza said quietly. "You know it. Jenni is a special case and is healing. This one? No."

Jenni was standing as a mother to a little Tenno boy named Rocky. She was also talking to Sara Priosa and the two seemed to be bonding a bit. Sara was relaxing. Which was a good thing. But no one knew when Jenni's mental connection to the Clergy would reassert itself. It _would_, everyone knew that. But until it did, Jenni was recovering and they were easing her gradually back into life. She was no longer an agent of the Clergy.

Jesselle..._was_ an agent of the Clergy, even as young as she was. There was no way she could stay here in the hidden retreat of the Orokin. Sure, the Clergy knew of Avalon. Jenni's interrogation had shown that the former Reverend Mother had known about the hideaway for some time. The _new_ Reverend Mother of course had lived there for a time. But there was a difference between knowing _about_ something and having an agent _inside_. Jenni was watched twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. If they added Jesselle into that... It would get bad. Both for her and for everyone else. So...

"I know." Nikis agreed. "The Oracles have offered her sanctuary. They have their reasons, not the least of which because she is Janet's daughter. They can keep her secure and let her heal. But..." He raised a hand in warning. "As exposed as she was... another portal may kill her." He shook his head. "From what Trinity said... She was _really_ exposed."

"Kill her or change her." Eliza made a face. "Either way... Janet would not react well. How... bad...?" Nikis slowly shook his head and Eliza paled. "Nikis?"

"We don't know." The Nekros said softly. "She was floating in a burn tank and tried to get out of it. She hurt her spine. They are not sure how much damage was done, but there was some. They are keeping her asleep until they can figure it out."

"And to get Jesselle here, they used the backdoor into the portal nexus that _you_ used to get here the first time." Eliza said with a frown. Nikis did not respond and the Empress sighed. "Nikis... we cannot have unsecured access ways."

"It is secured." Nikis said softly.

"Doesn't seem that way." Eliza said sharply. He ignored her. "Nikis..." She pleaded.

"It is secured." Nikis repeated. "No one else can access it. The way Jesselle used to get into the database is being plugged as we speak."

"And you will not let us block it... because...?" Eliza said slowly. He did not respond and she sighed. "Stubborn Tenno."

"As soon as we are sure she is okay, I will take her to Iriana's hospital." Nikis said quietly, ignoring the Empress' question. "I can shield her from the energy for a short hop."

"And let her wake up there." Eliza nodded slowly. "Surrounded by humans tending her. Not Orokin or Tenno. Give her time to heal. To recuperate."

"The energy hurt her." Nikis nodded. "Quite badly. She will need help and rehabilitation. The Corpus and Grineer know about the hospital already so no secret there."

"Not that they can _do_ anything about it." Eliza said with a smirk. Nikis grunted in agreement.

Healer Iriana had set up a new hospital to replace the one that had been destroyed to prevent it's subversion by one of the most ancient of Tenno enemies. The fact that it was in an Orokin tower was a godsend in many ways. It allowed for instantaneous transportation of critical cases to the emergency department of said hospital. The staff of the Orokin tower had been more than a bit bemused by the sudden influx of humans, but they had managed and now? The place hummed with efficiency and activity for the first time in millennia.

The Grineer wanted the hospital destroyed. Any ray of hope dimmed their own dominance and that was something that the clones could not allow. But they could not _find_ said hospital. They hadn't had any luck when it had been buried in a cave on Mercury and they even less now with the hospital secreted in one of the few operational and fully functional Orokin towers that remained.

In a way, what the Corpus wanted was worse. They did not want the hospital destroyed. They wanted it to be _theirs_. They had painstakingly reverse engineered much Orokin technology. Just the promise of untouched Orokin tech had sent countless Corpus teams to their deaths in the Void. Or worse. It was well known that many Corrupted in defunct Orokin towers had been Corpus once. If they found out where it was... they would send mechs and troops to try and take the technology for themselves. If that happened? It would be a bloodbath when the Tenno responded. For respond they would. Iriana was Tenno, if not a Warrior.

The staff knew where the hospital was, but all were fanatically loyal to Healer Iriana. All had demanded anti-interrogation protocols be inserted into their minds in case of capture. Said protocols would kill them before they could divulge the location of the facility. Iriana had balked at that, but the staff had gone around her and asked the _Tower_ to do it. It had. The _less_ said about Iriana's response when she had found out about that the better. The normally mild mannered Healer _had_ thrown things.

"Healer has a temper." Nikis said with a shrug and Eliza nodded. "Sooner I get Jesselle there, the sooner Iriana can start fussing over her. She cannot stay _there_ either, but she _can_ heal. She needs it."

"It was.. a hell of a shock, Nikis." Eliza said with a sigh. "She appeared in the throne room. There are already people demanded that we destroy that portal."

Avalon had hidden away from the Solar System for a long time. To have that sense of security shattered... even by a sorely hurt sixteen year old girl...

"I know." Nikis said sourly. "Scared people do dumb things. Good thing the guards there were well trained." The Royal Guard had adapted a bit. With the first Orokin Marines in millennia being processed through their training, there were ceremonial guards now in places, not just Tenno Royal Guards.

"I don't know how I would have reacted if the court had been in session." Eliza sighed. "I like to think I would have been careful, reasoned. But I am just as susceptible to fear as anyone." Nikis shrugged. "Nikis..." She tried again. "If the Sentients can access that path..."

"They can't." Nikis said quietly. "There is simply no way. If they try, the database goes boom." Eliza and Michelle both went white at that and Nikis nodded. "Secure _enough_?" He asked snidely. Eliza nodded.

Considering that the Orokin database held so many energy forms of dead Orokin and Tenno that said 'boom' would equal a supernova... yes. It was secure. If everyone _died_, what did the Sentients _gain_?

"I will stay with her for a while." Nikis said heavily. "She is going to need help. Iriana and her people will do what they can, which is a lot. But she isn't privy to all of it."

"No." Eliza agreed softly. "And a good thing."

"Yes." Nikis sounded sad for a moment. "It...wasn't supposed to be this way, you know? It wasn't. But it is and we have to deal with it."

"All we can do." Michelle said with a sigh of her own. "Nikis... _Will_ she be okay?"

"Frankly?" Nikis said with a grunt. "I don't know. As far as I know, this has never happened. She physically stepped over the line. Not by choice, but she did. How can one be prepared for such a thing? To straddle life and death?"

"You do." Eliza said softly.

"I am Tenno." Nikis said quietly. "And _I_ wasn't ready either. Jesselle went to what is, to all intents and purposes a technological afterlife and came back."

"She is gonna have problems."


	3. Chapter 3

**Changing Circumstances**

Jesselle wasn't falling now. She was... She was lying on something soft, covered by something warm and soft. she could not move. She could not speak. She could not do _anything_. She was flailing around in her mind, trying to access-

_Easy girl._ The voice was not -quite- familiar. But it was. Was it one voice or many? _I am here to help. We are here to help._

_Who...? _Jesselle managed to get the query out despite her mind whirling in so many ways. _Wha-?_

_You are going to be all right, Jesselle._ The voice was female. Young. She knew it. Jesselle knew she knew the voice. But...from where? _I know I do not sound like I did._ The voice reassured her. _Mom had to go back to work. It is what she does. I am glad she did. She will help you._

_Do I know you? _Jesselle hated the whining tone that entered her mental voice, but she could not shake it.

_Yes._ The other said quietly. _I am Mishka._

Jesselle went still. She had met a girl named Mishka who had appeared at the breeding colony and vanished just as swiftly as she had appeared. But she had been hurt.

_I... Mishka?_ Jesselle said weakly. _What happened? I was... it was supposed to put me on Venus at a supply depot. A hideaway. I... It didn't work... I... I can't move!_

_I know._ Mishka's voice was so sad now. _Mom will help. She __**is**__ helping. I will help too. Hold tight to that thought, Jesselle. We will help. But we need you._

_Need... me...? _Jesselle was beyond confused now.

_You do not remember._ Mishka's voice was gentle as something was pulling Jesselle now. It was soft but insistent. _Mom is going to wake you soon. She will not talk about it. You will have to wait to find out. But you __**did**__ offer._ _Janet..._ Mishka gave a sob. _Your mom is angry. But she will accept. You chose this._

_I... offered?_ Jesselle said softly. _I chose?_

_Yeah._ Mishka's voice was fading. Or _Jesselle_ was. Warmth was suffusing her now. _In your position? I would do the __**same**__ to see my mom again. I hope to see you again someday Jesselle. Good luck._

_With what? _But she was falling again.

* * *

"Good morning Jesselle." The voice was familiar. Jesselle opened her eyes and stared at the woman who sat beside the bed she was in. She hadn't ever met the woman, but she knew the voice. Healer Iriana smiled at the girl's befuddled expression. "I know you are confused. But you are safe. You are in a secure location. Can you contact the Clergy and tell them that?"

"Wait..." Jesselle managed to croak. "What?" She tried to look around, but the walls were bare. The room was nearly stark. Probably intentionally.

"Running away was dumb girl." Iriana said with a sigh. "That key was _seriously_ messed up. You could have gone _anywhere_. Luckily you were found and brought here for treatment."

"I wasn't running away." Jesselle protested. "I was... evading contact." Her matter of fact tone brought a smile to the Healer's face.

"You _managed_." Iriana said dryly. Then she sobered. "And you very nearly killed yourself. Void energy on unprotected human flesh is _bad_, girl." She patted Jesselle's hand and the girl did not miss the telltale signs of restraints on her wrists. They were unobtrusive, but there. Jesselle was a prisoner. Iriana nodded. "Don't do anything dumb and you will be out of here tomorrow. This is a highly secure facility. You do not have any information we want or need. You are not -strictly- a prisoner. But you are not a guest either. Frankly, the restraints are to keep you in the _bed_ long enough to heal." Her tone spoke volumes on that subject.

"I understand." Jesselle said weakly. "I won't make a fuss."

"Good." Iriana said with a smile. "You will be able to feed yourself, but you won't be very hungry for a while. The treatments took their toll. You will be a bit weaker than normal for a time. As for excreting..." She made a face. "Your body needs time to adjust. We repaired the damage, but for now? All you need to do is rest and recover." Jesselle nodded and Iriana's face turned grave. "And tell your Clergy friends where you are."

"I... Okay..." Jesselle sighed and opened her mind. As soon as she did, a spike of pure pain flashed through her and she could not control a gasp.

"_Jesselle?_" Iriana was bending over her now. "What is wrong?"

"Hurts..." Jesselle managed to gasp out. "Inside... Hurts..." She pleaded. "Help?" She begged.

"Easy..." Iriana perused some scans and then nodded as she manipulated... something out of Jesselle's view. The pain ebbed. "There. Better?"

"Yes." Jesselle said weakly. "That really hurt. What... What happened?"

"I am not sure." Iriana's eyes met Jesselle's and the girl went still as the woman shook her head, just a little. She did know. But... she wouldn't say. But... why? What was going on? The Healer's eyes flicked to one side and Jesselle's eyes followed. A vent was low on one wall. It... seemed slightly ajar. The Healer smiled at her. "We will figure this out, Jesselle. But for now, you need rest."

"Yes, Healer." Jesselle said quietly. The Healer pulled out a hypo, and something hissed, but Jesselle felt no change. She was confused, but closed her eyes. She felt the Healer bend close.

"Good luck, Jesselle." Iriana said very quietly. "You will have to wait _five_ minutes when I exit. Then go." She kissed Jesselle's forehead like the girl's mom had once. Then she rose and was gone in a flash. The room darkened after she left.

_What the hell?_ Jesselle said to herself.

She stayed where she was. She started counting silently. At the five minute mark, she sat up. She expected an alarm or the restraints to activate, but neither of those happened. She checked herself quickly. She was wearing a standard shipsuit. Her basic augmentation was offline. She had no tools, no weapons. No nothing. But she did see an exit. Maybe too obvious? She darted to the vent and yes, it was open. Just inside a pouch lay. She stared at it and then picked it up.

Inside the pouch was a datapad, a secure com and a small multitool. The tool was open, an specific part extended. Jesselle stared at it and then at the vent. The tool was set to latch the vent cover in place. She shook her head and sealed the cover. She jerked as the com vibrated. She keyed it on and a male voice sounded from it.

"You have four minutes before the security realizes you are gone and locks down everything. Move. Follow the vents." The voice was not familiar, but Jesselle could hear the worry that underlay the commands.

She followed the vents, staying in the center of them to avoid traps that she could see. But none seemed to be live. That would not last. Then she came to a dead end. The room beyond looked like an airlock antechamber. She shook her head. Without a vac suit, she would...

She jerked as an alarm started blaring and she jumped forward as something slammed behind her. She spun and saw a latticework of metal that had slid down from the ceiling of the duct, blocking it. Beyond, she could see lights coming alive. The traps.

_No going back..._ Jesselle said to herself weakly and started undogging the vent cover. It slid out of the way easily and she peered around, looking for cameras. But they were either well hidden or inside the airlock. She jerked as the airlock opened. Beyond it... a hatch beckoned.

"_Move!_" The male voice snapped. "They are tracking your restraints!"

She needed no further urging. She darted forward as red lights came on.

"Down!" The voice commanded and Jesselle hit the floor. She crawled forward as beams of some kind of energy played over her. She could feel the heat from some of them. "Airlock closing."

"Wait!" Jesselle said, suddenly afraid. "I don't have a..." She gave an eep as the beams started lowering towards the floor. She scuttled into the airlock and gave a sigh of relief as the inner hatch sealed. The beams were blocked. For the moment.

"Get in!" The voice snapped and she ran forward into... a tiny control room of some kind. It was... sized for her. She sat in the sole seat and it was perfect for her. A restraint harness curled around her and she could feel acceleration. "Hold onto your lunch, girl." The male voice declared.

"NightNova!" A loud male voice snapped from somewhere nearby. "What are you _doing?_ That girl is a _prisoner_!"

_NightNova?_ Jesselle swallowed. She knew that name. A sentient spacecraft.

"Classification Delta Six. Gold Level Four authorization." The male voice replied. "You are _not_ cleared."

"If you leave with her, they _will_ hunt you." The other warned. "Stand down, NightNova."

"Yeah they will." The voice of the ship said sourly. "But I have my orders. See you later." A click sounded and the voice turned wry. "Not... _quite_ as clean as we had hoped, but workable. You okay, Jesselle?" It asked, friendlier.

"Night...Nova...?" Jesselle said weakly. "What... What is going on?"

"I don't know." The ship replied. "I was asked to pick you up, carry you somewhere and drop you off. You will find a change of clothes in a storage locker to your left." A thrum sounded and Jesselle felt the acceleration fade as the ship activated it's inertial dampeners. "Please wait until we are away. Then you can unstrap and change."

"This makes no sense." Jesselle said weakly. "You... You were... Why help _me_?"

"Because you are helping us." The ship replied. "We cannot do what has to be done. Too many rules and restrictions. I do not know exactly _what_ you are to do, but I do know _we_ cannot do it."

"That... makes no sense." Jesselle said weakly. "You are with the Tenno, no?"

"Sort of." NightNova said with a sour noise. "Sometimes. But for right now... a bin is to your right. Please drop the restraints in that."

"Drop them?" Jesselle stared as the bindings on her wrists and ankles fell off. "Oh..." She snorted in wry self deprecating amusement. "You _would_ have the codes, wouldn't you?"

"Yes." NightNova was serious now. "Jesselle... I was told not to say this. But I have to. If you want to back out... Now is the time. I can get you to safety."

"There is a reason for this." Jesselle said softly as she deposited the restraints in the bin indicated. It snapped shut with a click and hum that indicated shielding.

"And I do not know what it is." NightNova said with a human sounding sigh. "But I _do_ know you are going into harm's way and you are not a soldier. This... feels wrong."

"At least tell me why." Jesselle demanded.

"Check the pad." NightNova sounded sad now. "But if you are anything at all like people tell me your mom is... You won't back off."

Jesselle stared at the bulkhead and then at the pouch she still carried. She pulled the datapad out and activated it. She nearly dropped it when _her own face_ stared out at her from it.

"You have a bunch of questions." The other her said calmly. "There is no time for the answers. Lives are at stake, but not ones that anyone can reach except for you. Inside the bin that NightNova likely doesn't want to open..." The ship made sour noise. "...are a prison smock and a set of Grineer restraints." Jesselle went still. They could _not_ be...

"I know you are scared, Jesselle. I am. And I am you. You do not remember, but there is a good reason." The other her said softly. "The plan is sound, but not infallible. We have options in place if it goes south. The Clergy and Tenno will be tracking you. They will find you. I do not know if you -I- will be hurt, or worse. Grineer can be very unpredictable in such cases. They will not kill you, most likely after interrogating you. They will use you. It will not be fun. But there is no one else who can possibly find them in time."

"Find _who_?" Jesselle asked the recording. But it shut off and she was left staring at the datapad. She yelped as it smoked and she tossed it aside. "What the _hell_?"

"I don't know." NightNova said softly. "But you... You can choose otherwise." The ship was nearly begging.

"Who are you working for, NightNova?" Jesselle said softly. "Really?"

"For now? _You_." NightNova said quietly. "After? I don't know. My... partner is dying." Jesselle went still and NightNova sighed. "I was free to take an odd job. I was contacted and asked to ferry you via a intelligence drop. But I don't think this is Intelligence. Not their style."

"So... I infiltrate a Grineer prison?" Jesselle said softly as she opened the bin and yes, smock lay inside and several ugly looking binders and a collar.

"No." NightNova's reply was worried. "Coordinates are for a lab."

**Corpus Clergy Colony, Neptune**

"Well?" Zacharias said heavily. "She wasn't there."

The Reverend Mother had returned to the colony in a foul mood. It was shared by most of the personnel. Jesselle was liked.

"Not at the reproduction facility." The Reverend Mother said with a sigh. "Nor at the hideaway she was _supposed_ to go to. I have a tech team searching it, but I do not expect to find anything. From what little we found on our first sweep... Janet set it up, quite some time ago." Zacharias stiffened and then nodded. "But there was no sign Jesselle arrived. _Someone_ had been there, a ship had been docked. But no transponders and no sensor coverage for that area. Janet was nothing if not thorough at planning for such."

"She wasn't the only one." Sister Kieko sounded so abject. The Reverend Mother opened her mouth to console the other woman, but Zacharias spoke first.

"Not your fault, Sister Kieko." The clergyman said firmly. "Jesselle is not stupid, no matter how she acts it occasionally. If she did... plan this... Then she did it completely. And she went where she planned. But _why_... That is the question."

"We could not track the portal." The Reverend Mother said with a deep sigh. "The built in sensor baffling of the Convent kept us from doing so."

"Intentionally." Zacharias sounded both aggrieved and proud. "She really did not want to be followed."

"That makes no sense!" Kieko said sternly. "If she didn't _want_ to be followed, why would she _tell_ us where she was... going..." She trailed off as the others stared at her. "Unless that _wasn't_ where she was going."

"She is smart and flexible..." Zacharias said with a sigh. "But she is not trained. How the hell could she plan something like this without us knowing. Seeing something?" He paused. "Wait a second... if the missive arrived this morning...then she didn't have a lot of time to plan..."

"Something stinks here." The Reverend Mother agreed.

"More than you know." Harriet said from the doorway. "I was checking the missive, looking for traces. The system popped up other missives. Thirty three of them." At that, all of the other three in the room stared at her. "All girls between the age of fifteen and nineteen. I just corroborated. None made it to the reproduction centers they were supposed to go to. Six other missives were challenged by parents since the girls were younger than legal age. They notified us."

"Thirty three plus six plus Jesselle..." Zacharias said softly. "Forty girls. For what?"

"Nothing good. We are trying to track them." The female agent said quietly. "But there is more."

"There always is." The Reverend Mother said with a sigh. "What?" She demanded.

"This was hacked. Professionally." Harriet held up the missive that had started the whole escapade. "We scrutinized it down to the molecular level. We got no further information. But we can make some educated guesses."

"And those are?" The Reverend Mother asked as she leaned forward, staring at the tiny datapad.

"We did not do this." Harriet said firmly. "Neither did the Special Forces. But whoever did it used Clergy override codes to wipe it clean of traces." All of the others froze at that. "And... there is...one other bit..."

"I can tell already I am not going to like this." The Reverend Mother said with a snarl. "Go ahead."

"We think we know when it was hacked." Harriet said quietly. "Five hours ago. Just after it arrived." The others stared at her, confused. "And there is only DNA evidence for one person handling it before Jesselle fled."

"You are not saying _Jesselle_ hacked that..." Zacharias said with a gulp. "She is good, but not _that_ good."

"It is not difficult to do if you have the proper codes." Harriet said quietly. "We know Janet let Jesselle know where her hideouts were stored. If there were codes there as well..." She broke off as Zacharias winced.

"There would be." The clergyman said weakly. "I checked the ones I knew about, but I knew she had others."

"So _Jesselle_ hacked it..." The Reverend Mother stared at the datapad, but her mind was moving at lightspeed. Others in the Clergy assisting her with research. "Yes... yes, she could have. But... _why_ hack it... And..." She went still.

"Reverend Mother?" Zacharias asked softly, his face worried.

"I just checked the secured surveillance logs." The Reverend Mother said softly. "She read the pad. Then she lay down on her bed for four minutes. Then she got up and walked to a hidden compartment in your quarters, opened it. She pulled out a pouch and worked on the datapad. Then she lay back down." She shook her head. "She... didn't go anywhere else. This makes no sense. She didn't plan anything, she didn't _take_ anything else. She went straight from her bed to the hideaway, then back to the bed. Then she lay there for eighteen minutes before going to the Convent. Why would she...?" She froze. "I can see her face. She was crying. But... she wasn't all _there_."

"She was talking to someone... Mentally."


	4. Chapter 4

**Subjective**

Jesselle was sure she was supposed to be acting terrified. That was not a problem. She was. But there were a few... other problems.

The first problem? As soon as she closed the Grineer collar around her neck, something had started to hum and her mind... fuzzed. Not completely. Not totally. Just enough to make her slow and listless. The archaic looking chains that hung from the binders around her wrists and ankles hampered her movement, but her mind was hampered far worse.

The second problem? It wasn't a prison smock she was wearing. It was a patient gown. Oh, the two were very similar from what little Jesselle knew of prisons. The whole _idea_ was to keep prisoners from having access to cloth to make things with. Or so she thought she remembered. It was hard to think with the Grineer thing humming.

The third problem? There were no shoes or boots included in the set and her bare feet were _freezing_ in the cool air. She dreaded when she would actually have to walk on something besides heated deck plates. That too made sense. If she was a patient... or a lab rat... She wouldn't have too much on. It would mess up scans or whatever. Again, she wasn't totally sure. She _couldn't_ be with her mind so fuzzed.

The worst problem? NightNova hadn't spoken to her again. After a time that she couldn't have begun to determine, the hatch had opened and she had shuffled to it. When the outer hatch had opened, she had shuffled forward, only to have her chains grabbed by a hulking female form. The Grineer woman was angry and she was taking it out on Jesselle.

"Move, base!" The barrel of the woman's long weapon came around again and Jesselle flinched, but could not dodge as it slammed into her side. It was not the first time. Jesselle could feel warm wetness on places of her body that stung. She was bleeding. "I said _move_!" The Grineer slapped Jesselle across the face with her free armored hand. Jesselle felt rather than heard something go 'snap' and pain flared, mixed with nausea. "Get moving, you stupid baseline!"

"Trying..." Jesselle managed to get out.

"Try harder, you brainless human." The Grineer woman snapped as she alternately pushed and shoved the stumbling human through what was obviously a Grineer ship. Three times, Jesselle fell and was yanked up again. The approached a doorway guarded by two hulking Grineer Marines and the woman spoke sourly. "Got one more. Late. Typical bases. Can't even be on time for _this_." She showed the guards something and they stepped aside. "Move, base!" She commanded as the door ahead opened.

"Do you _have_ to beat them to a pulp?" This was a male voice. Jesselle tried to look but her body was suddenly not obeying her. She collapsed in a heap and the voice sighed. "We get better results when they are healthy."

"Mind your tone, _male_." The female Grineer said with a snarl. "You are _not_ the doctor."

"No." Hands were on Jesselle now. Strong hands lifting her up and carrying her. "But when he has to wait until the subjects heal before he can use them... he gets annoyed. It rolls downhill. You know that. He gets upset, _your_ superiors get upset. Stop _beating_ them." This was a command.

"I dislike your tone." The female Grineer said in a dangerous voice.

"I could not care less." The other retorted as Jesselle was laid on something solid. Suddenly, her wrists and ankles were pulled out straight and the restraints clicked to the table. Magnets. Had to be. "Might want to leave before the Reclaimer gets here. You angered her too." A growl preceded the sound of the hatch closing and the male sighed. "Idiot. Well... let's see what we have... Ah... Jesselle... Number twenty three. Human. Female... Sixteen years." He paused. "What the hell? What is this odd energy residue?"

"Void energy trauma." A female voice sounded from nearby and the male gasped. "Oh calm _down_, assistant medic KL908712-I. It's not like she is _contagious_."

"What causes that?" The assistant medic asked cautiously as something strapped Jesselle's head down. It hurt, but something else was in her mouth and she could not cry out.

"Well, _duh_?" The other snapped. "The _Void_? She took a portal and wound up in the Void somehow. Happens. Bases do not usually survive such, but it can happen." Unarmored hands were touching Jesselle now, careful, precise. Cold things was attached to her skull and she groaned as what were obviously tubes went other places. Intimate places. The woman snarled. It sounded... almost playful. "Oh shut up, base. I haven't even _begun_ yet. Save your screams. I want them."

"Ready for insertion." The male said in a clinical tone. "Her augmentation is blocking probe two. Altering course." A pause and he spoke again. "Ready."

"Insert."

If not for the immobilization, Jesselle would have jerked as pain flared at the back of her skull and both sides. She cried out and felt her eyes start to burn. She bit down and worse pain flared in her jaw. She screamed.

"Good girl." The other female said in a tone that was halfway to _lust_. "Your screams are _heavenly_. If the doc leaves anything I might want it."

"Don't bet on it." The assistant medic replied in a dark tone. "You know how he is. All biomass to be used."

"A pity." That unarmored hand was tracing Jesselle's body now. It felt...wrong, that caress. "Let's see what we can... Wait..." The voice turned professional. "This... this is not possible."

"What?" The assistant medic asked, his voice tense.

"This girl has the brain markers of the Corpus Clergy." The Reclaimer said with an odd tone. "But... messed up. I do not detect any anti-interrogation protocols. But they are sneaky. Ooooo..." She moaned. "We better do it the hard way just to be sure."

"Do we _have_ to?" The other asked with a sigh. "It makes such a _mess_."

"_She_ is not going to care." The other said and then paused. "But the doc _will_." She sighed. "And I _so_ wanted to take her fingers off one knuckle at a time. Ah well..." A fiery hot pain slammed through Jesselle's cheek as a finger poked it. "Broken cheek. Enough for the cortex scan?"

"Not... quite..." The medic replied. "Almost."

"Good." The Reclaimer said with glee as something took hold of the little finger of Jeselle's left hand and twisted it sharply. The girl screamed as pain erupted there as well. Then she could do was sob and pray.

And scream.

**A long and painful time later**

An eternity of pain later, Jesselle lay silent and spent on the table as the two interrogators talked.

"Typical." The female said sourly. "We got nothing from her on their security. Nothing on their systems. Nothing at _all_ except living arrangements. Those blasted Clergy are _sneaky_." The hand was caressing Jesselle again. "Pity the doc wants all of them. This one is cute."

"If you want to cross the doc..." The male replied evenly. "Go right ahead. No one is stopping you."

"Nice try." The other said with a snort. "I have others to vet. Prep this one for her new life."

"Ah..." The male said as the sound of a door came. "I almost wish she _could_ take you. Your life would be pain filled and short, but... less horrific. Even bases do not deserve what the doc will do to you, girl. But I have my orders."

Jesselle was too weak to move or fight as the restraints clicked off the table. She felt the tubes that had been put into her body shift a bit and then they were sticking to her flesh. She felt soft things placed over her eyes and then something sticky over those that adhered to her face. She screamed as her jaw was forced open and then gagged as something forced it's way past her teeth and down her throat. She felt... odd. Drugged? She barely noticed when her jaw was clamped shut around the tube and something sticky wrapped around it to keep it closed.

"Preliminaries done." The medic said with a sigh. "Last subject. For this load anyway. Administering twenty units of quick heal per doctor's orders." Something stung Jesselle's neck and she was instantly woozy. "Subject is to be transferred to the containment facility."

"Yes, sir." This had to be a male Grineer. Nothing else sounded quite so... big and dumb.

"And for the Queens' sakes, trooper, do not just drop her in the pod like the last one did. The subject came out with irreparable brain damage. The doctor was not pleased." The medic sounded slightly sick now. "You know what he did."

"Yes sir." The clone replied. Armored hands slid under Jesselle and she tried to move, tried to fight, tried to do anything as she was lifted into the air. But she couldn't. She was... so tired. So weak. All she could do was cry.

_It's okay, Jesselle._ The voice was familiar. Mishka! _It is going to be okay. Sleep._

_This... I... _Jesselle could not stop crying. She was being carried now and then, she was set in something. The hands withdrew and she felt the hiss of pressure seals. _What is happening?_

_Something long overdue. _Mishka said sadly. _You will need your strength, Jesselle. The other girls will need your strength. Rest now._

_But..._ Something seeped into Jesselle's mind as wetness surrounded her. Cold wetness that warmed quickly. It was... comforting. Soothing. She was relaxing despite everything. Sleep was coming.

_Rest. We are with you, Iesselle._

It was not _just_ Mishka's voice.

**Back at Neptune**

"Harriet?" The Reverend Mother said wearily as she entered the tiny lab that served the colony. "You said you had something?"

"Possibly." Sister Harriet said with a frown as she turned away from a set of scanners. "The datapad had an odd substance on it. A substance I could not identify. The pad was cleaned and disinfected, but a microscopic residue remained."

"Why would Jesselle have _cleaned_ the datapad?" The Reverend Mother asked.

"To hide this." Harriet said with a shrug. "Probably anyway. Not sure why. But that is the most likely hypothesis." She pulled up a detailed scan and nodded to it. "This substance is not in any of our data files. But..." She frowned a little. In anyone else, that frown would have been a full face grimace. "It is similar to something we do know of."

"Oh?" The Reverend Mother asked carefully. "What?" Instead of answering, Harriet pulled up another file and the Reverend Mother's eyes went big. "I see..." The substance was one of the most highly classified materials the Clergy had access to. It was what enhanced the Reverend Mother's latent psychic abilities. Harriet nodded and banished the file. "But not...the same."

"No." Harriet said with a nod. "Jesselle was tested for psychic abilities. Twice. Once at birth and once when we knew who Oracle was." The Reverend Mother nodded silently and Harriet slumped a bit. "So it does not make a lot of sense to me. How can you enhance something that is not there?"

"It is there." The Reverend Mother said mildly. "Just in most humans..." -'and others' she carefully did not add- "... the abilities are latent. The gene for telepathy was bred into humanity by the Orokin, but it didn't work quite right." She shook her head slowly. "Jesselle had the potential. So... someone wanted to make contact in a way we could not detect readily. We were not monitoring her closely enough."

"We had no reason to." Harriet said quietly. "Frankly... if she had suddenly developed the talent, we would have seen it. It has happened a time or two in our history and the signs are clear. So..."

"So someone made contact." The Reverend Mother said slowly. "Someone who had the knowledge of who Jesselle was. Where she was and what she was doing."

"Reverend Mother..." Harriet said slowly. "Could Oracle have done this?"

"I don't see that." The Reverend Mother said with a frown. "_Could_ she have? Certainly. _Would_ she have? This is her _daughter_ we are talking about." She shook her head. "Even a quick perusal of the pertinent records shows how much Janet cared for her family. Cares for her family." She shook her head again. "And then what Juliet V-54 told us. Janet hurt herself trying to move when Jesselle fled."

"These pieces do not add up to anything I can understand, Reverend Mother." Harriet said with a shrug. "Obviously someone helped Jesselle in planning where to go and how. The moves were too well prepared for otherwise. She was ready for Kieko. She was ready with the key." She paused and frowned again. "Sensors should have detected the key at the very least."

"I think it was deactivated." The Reverend Mother said with a matching frown. "But if so, then Jesselle would not have had the know how to reactivate it."

"I didn't think those keys could be deactivated." Harriet sounded a bit perplexed.

"They can but it takes..." The Reverend Mother broke off, her eyes going wide. "Wait... show me that sample again." Harriet looked at her and then brought the file up again. The Reverend Mother stared at it and then hissed. "I need to make some calls."

"Do you know what this is?" Harriet said as the Reverend Mother turned to go.

"No." The Reverend Mother said with a snarl as she stalked from the room. "But I do have a suspicion of where it came from."

* * *

**A few minutes later**

_You two timing, backbiting, lousy good for nothing BITCH!_

The rest of the Clergy froze at what they were doing as the Reverend Mother's rage flew across it's link. Her ire was not directed at them however.

_It is not what you think._ The rejoinder was calm. The female voice was soft and gentle. _She volunteered._

_She is __**sixteen**__, Lotus! _The Reverend Mother snapped. _I trusted you. __**We**__ trusted you! And __**this**__ is how you repay us? We offer our services and you use our __**children**__? Our __**future**__? You lying __**bitch**__!_

_Calm down. _The rejoinder was quiet. _There is a reason. But I cannot say what it is._

_Of course not. _The Reverend Mother snapped. _That girl is my responsibility. Where is she?_

_I do not know. _ The calm reply had the Reverend Mother pause in mid rant. _Until she awakes, we cannot locate her._

_What do you mean 'Until she wakes'? _The Reverend Mother demanded as horror flew through the Clergy. _What have you done?_

_I cannot tell you that. _The other said evenly. _Probabilities say you will interfere. If you do, she dies for no gain._

_**What have you done?**_The Reverend Mother screamed. _She is not __**yours**__! She is a __**kid**__! What have you done?_

_No, she is not mine. _The Lotus replied calmly. _I wish she __**was**__. She is brave and clever. She __**offered**__, Reverend Mother. __**She**__ called __**me**__._ A ripple of amazement flew through the Clergy at that.

_She... what?_ The Reverend Mother was dumbfounded now. _That... is not possible._

_I do not know who gave her the information on how to contact me. _The Lotus said quietly. _I have suspicions, but the probabilities are unclear. She asked my aid but was going to do it anyway. It did not work as she had planned. Things went awry, but she is alive._

_What have you done? _The Reverend Mother begged, horrified. _Where is she?_

_Out of your reach and mine. _The Lotus replied sadly. _She is travelling into the heart of darkness where she has to do something very important. She was going to do it with or without my help, Reverend Mother. What could I say to that?_

_You mean... you did not give her the substance that enhanced her telepathy. _The Reverend Mother said slowly.

_No._ The Lotus' voice was still calm.

_Then who did?_ The Reverend Mother demanded.

_No one._ The Lotus said with a mental shrug. _She found it herself. And it takes no imagination why she wanted to be able to talk to someone specific mind to mind, does it, Reverend Mother?_

_She wanted to talk to her mom... _The Reverend Mother was reeling. _She... She did it... herself..._

_All I can say without disturbing the probabilities is that she did not contact her mother._ The Lotus said sadly. _The effects are temporary. But as soon as she heard what was happening, and that she had been selected... She contacted me. Yes, I helped her. She demanded my aid._ The Lotus sounded wry now. _Like mother, like daughter. Stubborn enough to be Tenno, the both of them._

_Lotus... please... _The Reverend Mother begged.

_I do not know where she is going._ The Lotus said heavily. _All of the girls were taken out of my sight. They were not going to kill her except by accident and that was a very low order probability. With my aid, she has a better chance. So I gave it. Be angry if you must, but she chose this._

_Chose __**what**__? _This angry thought came from Zacharias and the Reverend Mother stiffened, but the Lotus just sighed.

_To save lives._

**Somewhere else**

"You... did... _what_?" For the first time in a long, long time, Nikis was struck speechless.

"Nikis..." The other said quietly. "It wasn't planned, what happened. She was untrained. She had no idea what she was doing. She touched it and... well, we were curious. She was so smart. She had so many questions."

"Do you have _any_ idea what Janet will do?" The ancient gunfighter who wore the Nekros warframe demanded. "She is _sixteen!_"

"We know." The other said sadly. "We tried to dissuade her. But...when she contacted us, she was crying. She knew there was something wrong, but not what. We managed to collate the information. We... have sources even the Lotus and Clergy do not."

"If anything happens to that girl... Janet is going to kill you, Jasmina." Nikis said with a snarl. "And I will help."

"Yeah." The Ember Prime Caretaker of the Unclean replied sadly. "But she is not the only child in danger here. She offered, Nikis. She offered."

"You should have said 'No'." Nikis snapped.

"She is as well protected as we could make her." Jasmina promised.

"Even in the heart of Doctor Tengus' lab, she is not alone."


	5. Chapter 5

**Pain that is not physical**

Jesselle woke up slowly, aware of some differences. She was cold. Her skin had goosebumps. The tubes were gone, leaving only a residual soreness in uncomfortable places. Her cheek did not hurt anymore, neither did her finger. But she couldn't move when she tried.

_Easy, Jesselle._ The voice was male, young and kind. _Don't push yourself. It was rough, what you went through._ It was...familiar. That voice. He had a smile in his voice when he spoke again. _Yes, you know me. We talked a quite a bit, you and I. We have unblocked your memories now that the interrogations are done. You will need to know what to do and how. More importantly, what __**not**__ to do._

Jesselle went still. She...remembered. She had been trying to contact her mom. She had found an odd substance in the medical ward Mishka had been in and after analyzing it, had determined it would enhance telepathy. Or grant limited telepathy to beings without it. So she had tried to contact her mom.

She had not contacted her mom. She still had little idea _who_ she had contacted. But they had been patient, kind and gentle with her despite her abrupt mental arrival in their midst. She had...talked to them quite a bit. They were cagy about who and what they were. She was aware that they knew who she was, but they never pressed or interrogated her. Or. .. she didn't remember such.

_We never interrogated you, Jesselle._ The other said gently. _We knew who you were from the beginning and frankly? You have no information we needed badly enough to justify the pain it would cause you. But this... we did not want you to do this. If you had simply told the Clergy, none of this would have happened. You would be safe. Putting yourself into the hands of the Grineer was foolish in the extreme._

_I __**figured**__ it was Grineer. _Jesselle said weakly. _Company would not have to go to such lengths to disguise their plans._

_I really wish you had let us handle it, Jesselle. _ The other said quietly. _We would have._

_And how many lives will be lost before that? _Jesselle asked calmly. _I know you are not human._ She said into the silence in her mind. _I don't know what you are. but I know you are not human._

_I was, once. _The other said heavily. _Jesselle, the less you know about this, the better. You have your task here. I have mine. I will do my best to keep you safe. You are not alone and you will not be. No matter what they do, they cannot block this path of communication._

_And when the enhancement wears off? _Jesselle asked softly.

_Hopefully __**both**__ of us will be out of here by then._ The other said with a sigh. _If not? We improvise. They cannot block __**my**__ connection and I will keep you safe to the best of my ability._

_Okay. I was taken to the facility. I was interrogated and I am in the lab. _Jesselle said with a wince. _Did they... alter me? _She focused her senses, but nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary.

_Not that I can determine._ The other said quietly. _They have altered a few of the others, but most of them either had breakdowns of some kind or were injured._

_So... they will put controls in me eventually. _Jesselle said with a gulp. _I need to be gone before that._

_**We**__ need to be gone. _The other agreed. _They have a backlog. Not a lot of staff. So they may use you as a med tech. If so... do not resist. You will see horrors, probably be forced to assist with horrors. If you resist, they will implant controls inside your mind and you know what will happen then._

_Irreparable brain damage. _Jesselle said with a gulp._ Grineer don't care as long as their slaves function._

_No, but __**we**__ do. _The other replied. _Your mom would __**flay**__ us and Nikis...? He would __**help**__._ _So... let's get this done fast and get the __**hell**__ out of here._ _You are going to need to 'wake up' in a few minutes. When you do, be terrified._

_**That**__ will not be difficult. _Jesselle said firmly. She sighed deeply and then sent out a mental caress to the mind she remembered the name of now. _Thank you, Curtis. I do not know if I could do this alone._

_You would manage, but... You are welcome, Jesselle. _The other replied calmly. _And... time..._

Jesselle opened her eyes. She was instantly aware of her surroundings. The Clergy trained people to be observant form a very early age. She was lying on a metal table in a small room filled with machinery that screamed 'Grineer' at her. There was one door and it's icon glowed red. Locked.

She wore the same short brown gown/smock thing that she had worn before. Now it was stained and very much the worse for wear. A mask covered her nose and mouth and she could feel heaviness in her limbs. Residue from drugs, no doubt. But other than that? She felt good. Odd that. She expected to be hurt, to be abused. So... what?

She raised her head and looked around, only to freeze as an angry voice sounded from a hidden speaker.

"About time you woke up, you lazy baseline!" The female voice was irate. "Get your butt in gear and get to work."

"Work?" Jesselle asked and then screamed as pain flared around her neck. Her hands reached up and hit smooth metal. Some kind of collar. It was pouring energy into her. "I don't know what you mean!" Jesselle did not have to fake her pain and fear as she scrambled from the table, still trying to get the collar off. Then a stronger jolt hit her and she was curled up on the floor with no memory of getting there. "Please! I don't know what you mean!" She screamed through her agony.

"Get up!" The other snapped and Jesselle rose to her feet. "Just outside your cell is a table with a set of scrubs. You will put them on. You will monitor the patients in all three secure wards. You will not try to exit the lab. You will do as you are told and you might, might live through this. If you do not do as you are told, or if you try to escape..." The voice trailed off menacingly.

"What do you want me to do?" Jesselle asked in a listless voice was she rose and walked to the door, which clicked open. Just outside, a small table held a green suits. She pulled it on. It fit, if not well. As she changed, she looked up and down the hall. Dozens of doors identical to the one she had just stepped out of lined the hall. She started to fold the smock neatly and the voice snarled at her again. "What do you want me to do?" She repeated.

"You will tend the other bases." The voice declared. A wall slot clicked open and a med kit appeared. "Keep them healthy and calm. That is your command. If you fail, they will be punished and so will you."

"Okay." Jesselle said with a sigh as she picked up the kit. She started for the next door.

At least she knew some medicine.

* * *

**Hours later**

Jesselle was fighting back tears after the third cell and was openly crying after the fifteenth. None of the other girls were hurt physically. But spiritually? Emotionally? All were _wrecks_. Some had evidence of older injuries, but most had recovered as Jesselle had. But all were beaten, cowed. Even Jesselle's gentle voice and touch had them recoiling, shivering. She did what she could and a few of them responded. She did as ordered, checking each and every cell. Thirty three cells. Each holding a girl who was collared just like Jesselle. Some wore rags of Corpus attire. Some had nothing. All were despondent.

Jesselle did what she could. Tending the few injuries, talking to the girls, trying to keep them calm and reassure them as best she could. But it was hard. So hard. One of the girls, a little thing that _couldn't_ have been fifteen no matter _what_ her chart said, had latched onto of Jesselle and not let go no matter how the girl had tried to get loose. She wasn't violent, just desperate for contact. Jesselle had been forced to sedate the girl to get loose. She had sung the girl to sleep and the girl had been smiling as she had lost consciousness.

Finally she was done ad went back to where she had woken to find a tube of nutrient paste sitting on the table she had woken on. It looked awful and tasted worse but she needed the calories.

"Good base.' The female voice mocked as Jesselle lay down. "Rest period is two hours, then you will prepare the subject in cell twelve for surgery." Jesselle stilled. That was the youngest girl.

"What kind of surgery?" Jesselle asked and then screamed as pain erupted in her neck. "It is a valid question!" Jesselle screamed. "If I prepare her for a bowel resection and you do brain surgery, she _dies!_"

"_It_ is a slave." The female voice retorted. "If _it_ dies-..." It cut off and another voice, male, older, spoke.

"Subject will be reconditioned and repurposed for experimental use." The voice was clinical and precise, nothing like any Grineer Jesselle had ever heard of. "Shave it's head and get it into position to shift into surgery room three." Jesselle swallowed and nodded.

"Where is surgery room three?" Jesselle fought for calm and managed.

"You will see." The male voice replied evenly and then the com cut off. The lights darkened and Jesselle lay back, her mind awhirl.

_Curtis?_ She begged and the reply was instant.

_It will not kill her, Jesselle._ The voice of her partner in this insane enterprise said softly. _But you have to do what they say. We are not ready._

_I do not care what the records say, Curtis, she is __**not**__ fifteen. I... I can't do this... _Jesselle was weeping softly as she lay on the table. It was as hard as she remembered but there was nowhere else to sleep. _I can't put her in their hands... not knowing what they will do to her..._ Curtis was a long moment in replying and when he did it was quiet.

_The Grineer hierarchy have finally decided that Infested are a serious threat._ Curtis said softly. _They are taking steps to neutralize the threat. The girl is only the first in a series of experiments. You cannot save her, Jesselle. Perhaps we can. But probably not. Harden your heart, Jesselle. She will suffer, but the Grineer cannot be allowed to do as they wish. They cannot. _

_They are going to put controls in the girl and let her be infested. _Jesselle said, stunned. The silence in her mind was deafening. _I... I can't..._

_Jesselle. _This was not Curtis' voice. _Sleep._ The many voices as one rocked her into slumber.

* * *

_She can't do it._ Curtis said sadly. _We cannot __**make**__ her do it._

_It feels wrong. _The mass mind agreed._ But she promised that she could if given a concrete reason. So... we must show her. Can you pull her?_

_I must be careful. _Curtis hedged. _But I think so. Her body will sleep and her mind will come with me. When?_

_Now._

* * *

Jesselle was not awake. Nor was she asleep. It was odd. She was surrounded by warmth despite the fact that she knew was half clothed and lying on cold metal. Then warm arms surrounded her and a woman was holding her as the girl started to cry.

"Oh Jesselle..." The woman hugged her tight. "Oh girl..." She rocked Jesselle gently. Jesselle opened her eyes and froze. The woman holding her... wasn't one. The warframe was gently rocking her in its arms. "It is all right, Jesselle. You are not alone. Your body is asleep but your mind came to us. We need to talk. To show you what will happen and why."

"I remember..." Jesselle said slowly. "The Grineer are trying to control the Infested. It cannot be done."

"No." The Tenno holding her said quietly. "But they can make a hell of a mess in the process. The Grineer and especially this Doctor Tengus, have some knowledge of what is actually happening and they think that knowledge is all there _is_. They are wrong."

"What will they do to the girls?" Jesselle asked, her voice tired. "To me?"

"The idea is to implant control mechanisms into a person before they are changed." The Tenno holding her said quietly. "They hope to use said control mechanisms to control infested. It will work for a time. For one or two of the changed. Then it will fail."

"Then all this was for nothing." Jesselle said sadly.

"Not so." A new voice head Jesselle freezing in place. The Tenno holding her rocked her again. "Oh Jesselle..." Jesselle's eyes went huge as her mother appeared nearby. "You _idiot_ girl." Janet was smiling to take the sting out of her words.

"Mom..." Jesselle begged and Janet knelt down beside her, taking her hands in the older woman's own. She was sobbing now. "I am _**sorry!**_"

"Don't push too hard Janet." The Tenno warned. "This linkage is fragile and so are you."

"I know." Janet said as she gave Jesselle's hands a squeeze. "You make me proud, girl. You are exasperating, Annoying. Pig headed and rebellious. And you _make me **so proud**._" She pulled the girl's hands up to her mouth and kissed them. "You are not alone, Jesselle. What you have to do... is horrible. It may kill the girl. But if you do _not_... The Grineer _will_ kill her with their ham handed stupidity. You are her only chance."

"But if she is Infested..." Jesselle said weakly, then gave an eep as her mother nodded to the side. Jesselle followed her mother's gaze and went still as a huge form approached. It was not human. She cried out as the Infested Ancient's tentacle came down on her arm, but... it was gentle.

_We can help her with the transition._ The voice...was not human. It was familiar. Jesselle knew the voice from talking with people before, but she had never seen the speaker...

"Healer?" Jesselle said with a squeak. "You... I..."

"Welcome to a very exclusive club, Jesselle." Janet said as she took her daughter from the Tenno and hugged her tight. "Welcome to the _only_ sane mind mass of Infested."

"Oh boy..."

* * *

**Two hours later**

Jesselle woke up refreshed of body but sick in all of the recesses of her soul. They had told her what would happen. She did not want to do this. She did not. But if the Grineer did it, the girl would die. That was not in question. She rose without prompting from the other and started for the girl's cell. The trip was far too swift.

"Ma'am..." The girl -Jesselle had never learned her name- said sleepily as Jesselle started working. "What... What are you doing?"

"I am sorry." Jesselle said sadly as she cut the girl's short hair off. The girl jerked, but Jesselle was ready with a mild paralytic patch that stilled the girl completely as Jesselle removed the remnants of her clothing and bathed her with a sponge. Then Jesselle covered the girl's skull and abdomen with sterile sheets. "You will curse my name until your dying breathe and I deserve it." She kissed the girl's still brow and stepped back as the table the girl lay on inclined, sliding her into the wall.

The panel that replaced the wall section was transparent and Jesselle forced herself to watch as machinery closed in on the immobile girl. The small room was a surgical ward.

"Anesthesia... Please..." Jesselle begged the wall, but there was no response. "_Please_ use anesthesia!"

The Grineer apparently did not waste such on experimental subjects. The girl's eyes were open as the machinery closed in, saws whirring and tubes hissing. Jesselle watched it all. She watched as the girl's skull was cut open. As control machinery was implanted. She watched as the girl's abdomen was cut open and tubes placed. Then the machinery retracted and Jesselle had a moment to see the horror she had helped create writhe. But only a moment.

Another panel opened beyond the girl and something snaked in and yanked the girl out of the enclosure. Jesselle had an instant to see writing masses of diseased looking flesh before the wall slid shut again and then she backed away as red hot fire erupted beyond the transparent panel. Was it her imagination she could hear the girl scream inside her mind? If so, it cut off abruptly. But... the feelings... She fell to the floor, retching.

"Well." The voice from behind her had Jesselle flinching. It was the male Grineer from before. "I admit to being surprised. A telepath. Can you hear them?" A hand was tracing Jesselle's skull now. It was not gentle or soothing. More clinical. Interested. "Don't bother to lie. The telemetry feeds read you almost as closely as you can read another."

"No." Jesselle said in a monotone. She was still fighting the waves of revulsion that had lanced through her mind. "Can't control it."

"Is that so?" The other said mildly. "Well... We shall have to see about that. With the talent..." He mused. "We cannot place the normal controls in you. So we will use... alternative methods."

"You kill any more of them and I will die before I help you." Jesselle promised.

"Perhaps." The hand was back on her skull now. "Perhaps not. That subject is not dying. It is changing. As will you."

"You can't _feel_ it." Jesselle grated out. "_She_ is dead."

"I am not going to debate mechanics with you." The other said with a laugh. "I have far too much to do." The hand left her head. "Guards. Take this subject to the 'special testing center' Class three protocols. And _gently_." He commanded. "We have much to learn, base."

_More than you know, Grineer._ Jesselle said in the deepest recesses of her soul. But she was smiling inside as the guard hefted her between them and ushered her from the room. _Far more than you know._

_So far, so good._


	6. Chapter 6

**Warping**

Jesselle was not fooled. She tried to keep track of the twist and turns but the facility as so utterly uniform it was hard to be sure. The troops carrying her did not slow. They did not stop. Hatches opened for them and closed behind them as they led her under her bare feet were aching. But then... they stopped at one door and when it had opened, they had shoved her in. Before she could cpmpletely turn, it slammed shut and it locked before her stunned eyes.

"Have you come to play with us?" A totally unexpected voice sounded from behind her. Jesselle turned and froze. The boy looked... normal. He was human, perhaps five years old. No more than that. He was not Grineer. Too small for one thing. No prosthesis, no visible cellular degradation for another. He wore a shirt and some kind of loose pants, both well manufactured. His shoes as well were well made. He smiled at her dumbfounded expression. "Or did the nasty doc just send you here with no word at all?"

"Who are you?" Jesselle said sharply. This was... not what she had expected.

"I am N-1." The boy replied evenly. "You... Oh..." He said with a frown. "He sent you to be tested, didn't he?" Jesselle did not move and the boy sighed. Said sigh was far, far older than he looked. "You look tired." There was no mental push, no command. Just the words. But Jesselle felt the fatigue that she had been fighting start to rise. "Come on." The boy said with a small sad smile. "No one will hurt you here. No one will dare." He held out a hand to her and she reached out to take it slowly.

As soon as she touched it, darkness roared up and grabbed her, dragging her down to oblivion. But... it was gentle.

* * *

Jesselle roused, aware she was floating in something. But she was not afraid.

"Woman hurt?" The voice was young, female, scared.

Jesselle was floating in something as small hands washed her. She was... it was...

"No, C-1. Just very tired." This voice was the N-1 boy. "Easy, Ma'am..." He crooned as Jesselle tried to wake up fully. "Easy. Just sleep. It's okay. You are okay."

"No she is not." A sour voice came from the side. Another boy. Angry.

"Don't scare her, K-1." N-1 said sharply. "She is hurt, scared and weak. They will test her. We have to relax her and let her recuperate or the tests will kill her."

"Death would be preferable to this." K-1 replied with a snap. "This... insane prison."

"N-1..." Jesselle managed to croak. "How...many...of you...?"

"Easy." N-1 said as a small hand rubbed her brow. "There are twelve of us."

"Oh...dear..." Jesselle said weakly as consciousness fled.

_**Twelve...**_ Jesselle said into the silence in her mind. _We assumed five. Six at most. Twelve? How can we... __**what**__ can we...? _There was no response. _Curtis...please... Talk to me..._

_Jesselle... _Curtis' voice was wary now. _You are being monitored. I cannot talk much. I will come when I can. We can handle them. But you need to explain. Get them ready. Be wary, Jesselle. They are small, but they are dangerous._

_Who are __**you**__? _N-1's voice was angry_. Our place. Go away!_

_She is my friend. _Curtis' voice was sad and sick now. _They hurt her. She needs help and I cannot. Can you?_

_She is nice. _N-1 said, calming a bit. _We will help her._

_Thank you. _With that, Curtis' voice vanished.

_He...friend?_ N-1 asked Jesselle who was reeling.

_Yes._ Jesselle said weakly. _He is a friend._

_We help you. _N-1 said with a sigh as something caressed Jesselle's mind. She couldn't define it. But it felt good. _Sleep now._

* * *

"You think she bought it?"

"I don't know. We have to get her ready. If she is not... the testing _will_ kill her and we lose our only chance."

"This is wrong."

"On _that_ we can agree, if nothing else. But now we are committed. Escape or die, we will not aid these clone scum any more than we have. Not after what they did to C-1, M-1 and L-1."

"They are not dead."

"But they are also not _there_ and you know it, K-1."

"Yes, N-1, I know."

* * *

Jesselle woke up warm. She was surrounded by warmth. Warmth that breathed. She opened her eyes and the room was fully Grineer, stark and utilitarian. But the bed she lay on... It wasn't a bed. Not really. More a set of bunks that had been moved together and the mattresses combined. She slitted her eyes and looked around. The bodies around her were small. Mostly boys, but a couple of girls. The girls... Jesselle fought a gasp as she saw the shaven heads, the tell tale signs of surgery on the girls.

"Good morning." N-1 said calmly from where he lay beside her. "We kept you warm."

"Thank you." Jesselle said with feeling. "The girls?"

"They... did something to the girls." N-1 said sadly. "C-1, L-1 and M-1 don't... remember much. They don't talk much. They can't."

"Oh." Jesselle gathered one of the girls into her arms and the girl snuggled close in her sleep. None of the kids were older than N-1 and a couple looked even younger. She touched N-1's hand. He was not human. The feel...was not human. _Can they listen in if we talk like this?_ She asked the boy whose eyes went huge.

_I do not think so._ The boy replied the same way. _You... You know...?_

_My name is Jesselle and I am here to help. _Jesselle said quickly. _I do not know who you are, I do not know what you are. And frankly? I do not __**care**__. You are children in danger. The girls the Grineer took are also in danger, but you... You are far more so. Do __**they**__ know what you are?_

_You... can't know..._ N-1 said weakly. _But..._

_Do they know what you are? _Jesselle pressed._ It is very important._

_No. _N-1 said weakly. _They woke us, tested us. Now they use us to calm test subjects they want coddled. You... What? _He demanded.

_It is okay._ Jesselle hugged the girl gently and then released her. _All of you had no say in what happened. When will they take me?_

_I am to... tell them... _N-1 said softly, sounding ashamed. _When you are calm enough._

_Do it. _Jesselle said firmly as she rose, ignoring the disgruntled cries from the girls, the wary looks from the boys. She moved to the edge of the bed and swung her legs off. She was wearing an odd robe that closed in front. It was warm. N-1 just stared at her. _We __**do not**__ have lot of time. __**Do it**__. _One of the other boys jumped off the bed, bent down and pulled up a pair of slippers that he slid onto Jesselle's feet.

"Thank you." She said with a smile to the boy who... bowed to her. He looked _a lot_ like N-1. N-1 stared at her and shook his head. She sighed. "I know it is hard to trust. But... I am here to help."

"She... good..." One of the girls leaned close to plant a kiss on Jesselle's cheek. "Go..." She said sleepily.

"Be ready." Jesselle said quietly as N-1 slid off the bed and moved to a panel. "What do I do?" He nodded to the door and Jesselle moved to stand by it.

"Just hold on to your sanity." N-1 said softly as he hit the panel and the door opened to show two Grineer. Jesselle nodded and strode to where they stood. They took her arms and led her off. She tried to ignore the crying behind her that cut off as the door hissed shut.

* * *

It was... very unpleasant.

The Grineer did not have all of the high tech that the Corpus took for granted. They made up for it in a number of ways. Sheer ruthlessness counted in many cases. But in this... They were subtle. Or... Subtle for Grineer.

Jesselle had been led to another room where an odd chair sat. She had been placed in it and strapped down. She knew better than to resist when an unarmored female Grineer had cut the robe from her body. They connected IV lines into both arms and both legs. Jesselle could only guess at what was in the bags that were dripping into her body. Probably fluids to keep her from dehydrating as well as whatever drugs the doctor wanted. An odd half helmet had been clamped over her head, it didn't hurt. Nothing did at first.

Then the attendants had started asking questions. She had tried not answering. They had connected wires and shocked her with electricity until she screamed. She had tried to give wrong answers and they had shocked her until she screamed. Then they stopped asking and Jesselle sat, panting.

"For a base, you are stubborn." One of the attendants said as she laid a hand on Jesselle. It was not comforting, that hand. It caressed places that Jesselle wished it wouldn't. Places that made the girl very uncomfortable. "But the doc breaks everybody." Jesselle flinched from the feeling. The touch... The mind behind it was filled with lust. This woman... wanted her. Wanted to hurt her. Wanted to use the girl and then throw her away to show her strength. "He will break you."

"If he breaks me, he doesn't get what he wants." Jesselle said, dredging up resolve from somewhere.

"Oh, he is only interested in the physical oddities." The attendant said with a smile that was malicious in the extreme. "Once we have your brain structure mapped and analyzed, we can break you any way we choose. Rest up, honey. I think you will need it."

"Won't do any good..." Jesselle grunted. "Dunno how or why it happened. No records... Nothing to duplicate.."

"Well..." The attendant smiled widely. "That's the thing. You see... we don't _have_ to duplicate it." Jesselle went still and the attendant nodded. "If it is something that can be cloned, we drop you in a vat and we get a bunch of yous that will actually serve a purpose instead of being stupid human deadweight." She smiled again, a predatory grin. "And if it _can't_ be? You spend a _lot_ of time on your back until you make one who can be cloned." Jesselle stared at her, eyes huge and the attendant laughed coldly. "Rest time is done, base. Time to find out which way you go."

Time... blurred. Twice the attendants woke Jesselle with slaps or cold water. One they gave her a stimulant that had her jerking in her bonds as her blood pressure spiked. They were no longer asking questions. A tube had been run down her throat and she was breathing through it. Other tubes had been run into sore places and Jesselle felt bloated and empty at the same time.

Then it started. An barely audible hum. She jerked again and one of the attendants -they blurred- introduced something into one of the lines that made Jesselle woozy. She was blurring badly as the hum became words.

'Obedience is strength. You will be strong. You will obey.'

For a moment, Jesselle did not understand when the words finally percolated through her fuddled brain. Then she screamed though the tube.

"_No!_" She shouted. "_I am not Grineer!_"

"Not yet." The voice of the doctor came and she quailed as a hand touched her scalp. It felt...wrong, that hand. Or... her skin did. "Soon, but not yet. The Queens have commanded, you will obey."

Something stung Jesselle's neck and she was falling... No she was sliding off the chair. The restraints had released her. The tubes were gone. Two strong hands grabbed her arms and held her up.

"Never..." Jesselle croaked out as the hands half led, half carried her away.

"Never is a long time, silly girl." The voice of the doctor came from a distance. "You are weakening. Tomorrow we will augment you and elevate you to proper Grineer. With the prosthesis will come more strength. For now? Rest. You have passed our tests."

"No..." Jesselle begged as she was carried away.

Everything blurred again and then she was laid on something soft. She was too tired to flinch as three small warm bodies settled around her.

"Ma'am...?" This was C-1. The girl who had kissed her before the tests. "Stay awake, Ma'am. It hard, but stay awake. Bad things happen if sleep now."

"I... I can't..." Jesselle moaned. "Too weak... too... Need to be... strong... I..."

"This no test!" C-1 sounded scared as warm arms held Jesselle. "N-1?" She begged. "What they do?"

"I do not know, C-1." The apparent leader of the group of not quite children said sharply. Something touched Jesselle's mind, a gentle touch. _Can you hear me, Ma'am?_

_They are trying to make me Grineer. _Jesselle said sadly. _I... I can't stop them..._

"No..." C-1 said weakly as she hugged Jesselle again. "No! Not good. Not right! Bad."

"I... don't know... what all they asked me..." Jesselle said in a tone that was half mental, half aloud. "I don't know... if I betrayed the plan... I... I can't... They are going to make me Grineer..." She started to cry. "I can't... I don't want to be Grineer."

"No." C-1 said sharply. "This not stand. Easy..." She touched Jesselle head and _something_ wafted over the girl. It felt... heavenly. "You not Grineer. Stay awake." She commanded.

"So tired..." Jesselle moaned.

"Hold on, Miss Jesselle." N-1 said softly as several sets of hands held her and something warm covered her. "We have you."

"Just... Jesselle..." The girl mumbled as she tried to stay awake. "I am... just... Jesselle." She was fading. _Curtis... help!_ She pleaded.

_Holy hell!_ The boy who wasn't one said sharply. _Jesselle? What have they done to you?_

_Trying to make me Grineer. _Jesselle said sadly. _I... I cannot... I... no..._

Suddenly, she was elsewhere. The room was stark with white walls. The floor was dark grey metal. She was not alone. A Grineer stood in front of her, a small one. The female Grineer had familiar prosthesis but wore no armor. But that wasn't the worst.

"No..." Jesselle said as she stumbled backward. The Grineer had her face!

"You are weak." The Grineer said in a voice that mimicked Jesselle's own. "I am strong. I am Grineer. I serve. _You_ will die."

_**WAKE UP!**_ The words resounded through Jesselle as the not-clone Grineer reached for her and she jerked.

"Not... today..." Jesselle said firmly as she was falling again. Then she was back on the bed. The three girls were crying as they held her. The boys... were all close. "They... I..."

"The doctor warps minds." N-1 said softly. "We did not think he would start so soon. She was only gone _two hours_." Who was he talking to? She could not hear a response. "I think... she cannot hear you. What can we do?" Again, no response that Jesselle could hear. "Right, we will... do what we can. Hurry."

Jesselle was floating now. But her eyes were open as several set of hands touched her. Energy was pouring into her and it felt... good. It felt... A hand touched her skull and she hissed as pain flared. But then it faded.

"This not right..." C-1 said weakly. "They... damage her? Or change her? No machine. But... hurt her."

"I do not know." N-1 said sadly as the hands eased Jesselle into a more comfortable position on the bed. "Hold her. We need to keep her awake until the others arrive. They say they can help her."

"_Who_ says that?" The voice of the doctor was taut with anger now. "Disobedient brats. Did you not learn your lessons the last time?"

"We are not your slaves." N-1 said firmly. "We will not _be_ your slaves. And this girl has done _nothing_ to you!"

"Okay." The doctor said with a sigh. "This experiment has failed. We can start again with the samples we have. Guards? Cleanse this filth."

Jesselle jerked as the bodies beside her moved. Suddenly she was alone on the bed. The door hissed open and she tried to move as gunfire sounded. A short, sharp scream came from the side. C-1.

"No..." Jesselle swallowed her pain, swallowed her anger, swallowed everything. Something _pulsed_ out of her mind. The clones in the doorway went still, their weapons still up. She could...feel... four of the young ones close at hand. All were dying. "No!" Jesselle screamed as power flared in her mind, awful terrible power.

_Jesselle NO!_ The scream was her mother. _Don't!_

_THEY WILL NOT... _Jesselle screamed but then a hand found hers. She stared down at the broken body that lay beside her. C-1... was smiling as life fled her form.

_I die free. _The little girl who wasn't one said softly._ You good. No be bad. No... be bad..._ Jesselle swallowed hard as the girl gave a sigh... and died.

_I..._ Jesselle swallowed hard and then gathered the still form up in her arms, holding the pitiful form tight. "No." She said firmly. "I will not be bad, C-1." Her gaze fell on the frozen clones in the doorway. "Make yourselves useful." She snapped. They... _saluted her_ and dashed off. She could hear firing in the distance. "What the...?"

_You took control of their minds._ Janet's voice was hushed. Terrified. For Jesselle. _Oh Jesselle... Oh god no, girl... No..._

_Mom! _Jesselle begged. _What do I do?_

_Hold tight, Jesselle. _Janet's voice turned fierce. _Help is coming. Lots of it._

_Hurry._ Jesselle said as she sat up. Around her, small forms lay still in pools of blood. Then she jerked. One was moving feebly. Several were! "Oh!" She slid to where the closest boy was lying, limbs splayed. "Hold on N-1... Hold on. Medkit?" She begged.

"Under...the bed..." The boy said weakly. "Had... to scrounge..."

"You did good." Jesselle said firmly as she bent down, pulled the medkit up and opened it to start working. "You kept me from dying. Time for me to return the favor."

"You cannot help us..." N-1 said weakly as Jesselle worked feverishly to assess and treat his wounds.

"Me doctor. You patient." Jesselle said firmly. "Shut up and let me work."

"I almost preferred you as a whiny little girl..." N-1 said with a faint smile that faded. "The others?"

"I don't know." Jesselle said softly. She finished with him and turned to the next, but the girl's eyes were open and saw nothing. "Oh... C-1..." She said, closing the girl's staring eyes. She felt anger start to rise. _Curtis... __**now**__ would be __**good**__!_

_On the way. _


	7. Chapter 7

**Rescues**

'No battle plan survives contact with the enemy.'

This saying had been around a long, long time. Probably about as long as humans had been fighting one another, some had tried to make plans of what to do and been stymied when their opponents did something that did not fit the plan. Historical cases were so plentiful as to be mind boggling.

The mind mass that Curtis had joined knew this. In its midst were several soldiers who had been infected by the Techocyte virus over the millennia. They knew about plans. They also knew the single most important rule of combat.

'What _can_ go wrong, _will_.'

The technology may have changed since humans first picked up sticks and stones to beat other humans to death with, but that simple adage remained just as true now as it did for the days of flint tipped spears. Just as the flint spearhead would shatter at just the wrong time, or the spear shaft would splinter and leave you with a short stick that wasn't good for much more than bashing things with the splintered end, things _would_ go wrong in any planned military action.

Admittedly, things were... slightly different now.

_Section three, advance._ Curtis commanded. The horde of the Infested that looked to him for guidance obeyed. _Section two, retreat. Pull them into that tunnel so Section Three can hit them from the side._

Curtis watched from a safe vantage as the sections he had directed did as instructed. Section Two was being attacked by a heavy squad of Grineer armed with flame weapons. They had no Ancients to use mass and bludgeon the Grineer to death. What they _did_ have...

The boy turned Charger was impassive as the Brood Mother that was the heart of Section Three let loose it's tiny payload and retreated a step, it's escorts charging into the Grineer squad from the side. None of the mass mind had a clue where the Grineer had gotten hold of that specimen. They didn't really care. It was very useful. As the Grineer found out. Before the Scorches and their two leaders, a Bombard and a Heavy Gunner, realized that they were under attack from the flank, the Maggots had attached themselves to the Grineer and started eating through the ferrite armor like it was made of cheese. The Bombard flailed around, actually clipping the Heavy Gunner with his weapon. She likewise, was struggling with the tiny forms that had found weak spots in her armor. A Tenno would roll to dislodge the tiny parasite. Grineer could not do that and it cost them.

One of the Scorches, either poisoned or mad with pain, turned his flamethrower on the group and most of the Maggots went up in flames. But so did several of the squad.

"Idiot!" The Heavy Gunner screamed as she shot the errant Scorch.

That scream became a rasping gurgle as the four Chargers delegated to her hit as one. One managed to tear out her throat in passing. The Bombard fared just as badly and then the Grineer were too busy _dying_ to notice that the _rest_ of the Infested had skirted the small battle.

The Grineer had planned for Infested breaking the quarantine. But not like _this_. This was not a confused mass of flesh pounding against walls, seeking to overpower through sheer mass. No. This was _directed_. A confused mass of Infested could be contained, neutralized. This? Not a chance.

The infested in the Grineer labs were...different. They were not -quite- as bestial, as feral as normal infested. They knew pain. They knew fear. But they understood when Curtis had explained. They gratefully accepted his command. His help. Even knowing that most, if not all of them would die in the process, they wanted a piece of their tormenters. Curtis and the mass mind provided them that chance.

It had been difficult, guiding the infested to maintain their appearance of bestiality. To keep up appearances even when a delectable morsel was dropped screaming in their lap. The poor hurt girl -her name was Mindy- slept, her form guarded by two Chargers and two Leapers who were also detailed to guard the other girls in their cells. None of them had been touched since Jesselle had been taken away. Mindy would change. But not soon. And hopefully the mind mass could ease her transition the same way Curtis' had been eased.

In a way, it really wasn't fair. The Grineer had set sensor telltales all over their quarantine enclosure. No Grineer in his or her wildest dreams might have envisioned Infested being able to _spoof_ said sensors long enough to rewire them. After that? It was fairly straightforward, if tedious at times. The Infested had searched every single duct. They had mentally mapped every cranny of the massive laboratory complex. Then again, good tactics were rarely _fair_. Fair fights were for _losers_. Curtis and the mass mind did not intend to lose. To let the monster responsible for all this and so much more horror from escaping. So he and his small group had worked hard to be ready.

Just in time. Jesselle's tactics had been meant as a diversion. Nothing more. She could catch the doctor's eye. The enhancement she had given herself was temporary. There was nothing for the Grineer sensors to find. Nothing for them to scan. They would be frustrated, make mistakes. At that point, the Infested and their allies would attack.

Something had gone terribly wrong. Curtis was not sure what. The first warning that anyone had was Jesselle's mental scream. It was far, far more powerful than her mind should have been able to produce. She also had very little control. Curtis and the mass mind had picked up snippets. The Grineer had wanted to _copy_ her? Make her a Grineer and copy her? That made no sense. She wasn't a clone. They had hurt her, drugged her. Tried to make her think she was Grineer. But then... the other...

Curtis' focus had been the Infested and the monster responsible for waking them again. Doctor Tengus had much to answer for to people all across the Solar System. _Jesselle's_ focus had always been on a small group of children caught in the middle of the horror. No one was sure where they had come from, but the mass mind has suspicions. The few tastes that the Infested in the labs had gotten of the kid's DNA were... not human. Close, but not quite. It felt... like Elenia and Jasmina's DNA. Tenno.

They had _not_ shared their discoveries with the rest of their sometime allies. Jasmina still did not trust anyone outside of the mind mass. Elenia was working on her, but caution _was_ warranted. Especially now when a single misstep would spell doom for every experimental subject in the facility. Tenno could be precision weapons, or they could be forces of nature. It was hard to say what would happen if what the mass mind suspected was true. So they had kept their plans secret from everyone. Janet had found out of course. It hadn't been _possible_ to keep her out of the loop, but as soon as she had discovered the truth, she had entered into the plan wholeheartedly. Inside that Oracle's heart was still a nurturing, caring soul. Children in danger called out to her to help.

No one had expected Janet to see what she had. Jasmina and the others still were not sure _what_ she had seen. Janet was unconscious and would be for some time. But...she was active. Her mind was not bound by her body after all. The mass mind could _feel_ the Oracle working, even asleep. But doing _what_? No one knew.

And now? They were committed. Curtis had volunteered as soon as Jesselle had. The mass mind had tried to dissuade him as much as they had tried to dissuade Jesselle. But he had held firm. The others were needed for other tasks. He was not. He was small and agile of mind. It hadn't been difficult to get picked up in a Grineer sweep for specimens. The handling had been rough and he had been forced to hibernate a bit to heal, but he had managed. He had thought he was ready for some payback. But _this_...

_This is why we did not want you to go, Curtis._ Jasmina's mind was sad and sick. _You are not a Warrior._

_It is needed, Caretaker. _Curtis said sadly as he stepped past what little was left of the Grineer squad. They had to keep moving. If the Grineer pinned them down, the entire area would be seared. Some of the Grineer safeguards were automated and controlled by specialized Infested Maggots who had eaten through the data lines to take control for the mass mind. Others were hardware or mechanical. _I do not have to like it. Good thing this form does not have a stomach though._

_If you __**liked**__ it... _This was Sword of Silence, the mind of Jasmina's mate, once a Tenno called Dust._ We would worry. This seems too easy._

_They __**are**__ busy fighting one another in places. _Elenia piped in and Curtis would have nodded, except his Charger form could not easily. He growled and continued on. _Whatever Jesselle did is continuing._

_That_ had not been expected. But apparently, whatever Jesselle had done... She had taken control of several Grineer. Said Grineer had been fairly high ranked and had issued orders to several groups of other Grineer. There were firefights erupting all over the facility as groups of Grineer blundered into one another. Curtis might have felt sorry for them. If he hadn't seen the horror of the facility, he might have. Now? He felt grim.

_We are almost to where they took Jesselle and resistance is stiffening._ _Whoops!_ Curtis said as fire came towards him. He dodged to the side and his escorts charged. The swarm mutalists and tar mutalists made short work of the Grineer forces. Again, none of the mind mass had any idea why the Grineer had samples of Alad V's monsters. But they would try to figure it out. If any survived this battle. _They know the horde is commanded and know I am doing something._

_Be careful, Curtis._ This came from all the minds. _If we lose you, we..._

Curtis froze as a voice sounded from a hidden speaker. A hated voice.

"Hail to the Queens. Facility lockdown and sterilization, authorization..." The doctor's voice cut off abruptly.

_No._ The voice was strong. It sounded like thunder across the facility. _You... will...__**not**__**escape**__... _It was.. Jesselle, but... not. The _**power**_...

_Jesselle! _Curtis screamed as power flared everywhere. But the Grineer were frozen just as the Infested were. Then he could move and the Infested under his control as well. But the Grineer were frozen in place. _Don't!_

_He is getting __**away**__, Curtis... _Jesselle said, her voice weakening. _I can't hold him __**and**__ keep him from destroying the facility! Get him. Quick!_

_Jesselle... _Curtis said gently. _Let go. Let him go._

_No... _Jesselle begged. _No... Not after all of this..._ She was crying and her sorrow echoed through the facility. _He killed them, Curtis. He killed all but __**three**__ of them... I... I don't know if I can save them..._

_Let him go, Jesselle. _Curtis did not know this woman's voice. But he instantly liked her.

_Mom..._ Jesselle begged. _Help..._ Curtis stilled. This was Jesselle's mom? The _Oracle?_

_I can't stay, Jesselle. _Janet said sadly. _But I had to help. Curtis. Get to Jesselle. Protect her. She will be very weak. She has used up far too much of her energy. If she uses any more... she will fade despite the children needing her. That is all that is keeping her conscious right now. And being __**awake**__ is all that is keeping her __**alive**__._

_What can I __**do**__? _Curtis begged.

_Don't let the Tenno kill her._ Janet said firmly. _She chose her path, and what tangled web it is. But she did good. Help her. Shield her._

_Why would the __**Tenno**__...?_ Curtis asked, but the other mental touch was gone. _Hang on, Jesselle. I am coming._ There was no response.

All over the facility, Grineer suddenly curled up on the ground. Many started to sob. None resisted as infested tore into them. Curtis ignored all of that. The mass mind had it under control. With all of the Grineer...disabled, the only self destructs left were automated and the mind mass had those under control as well. A report from a scout showed a transport fleeing the facility. They would have to be gone before the Grineer could move a ship into bombardment range. But they had planned for such and portals were being moved into position now. With a little luck, the facility would be empty of prisoners _and_ Infested before the Grineer could respond.

The Charger ran into the small room past two Grineer corpses with not a mark on them. He came to a sudden skidding stop. Two small male forms and a tiny female form were all hugging Jesselle's still body on a bed that seemed too large.

"Help!" One of the boy said as he saw Curtis. "Please help!" But he was frozen in place. The shock...wasn't his. Or the mass mind's. It came from _Jasmina_.

_That... __**can't**__... be..._ The Ember Prime Caretaker said weakly. _It isn't __**possible**__. He is __**dead**__!_

_Later_ Curtis begged her as he stepped forward. _My name is Curtis._ He said to the three around Jesselle. _I will try to help. She is weak and has used too much energy. _It wasn't a question.

"Yes." The boy moved to the side as Curtis stepped up onto the bed. He touched Jesselle's arm and it was like touching a stick. No life was felt. "I don't know what to do." The boy said sadly. "She saved us and I do not know what to do."

_I do._ Curtis said quietly as he knelt down beside the still human girl. He laid an appendage across her and energy started flowing. She felt... so still, so weak. He could feel her life flickering inside her. _I cannot touch her for long without Infecting her. You will need to..._ He froze as the other boy laid a hand on his side.

"Use me as a conduit." The boy said firmly. "We owe her our lives. The least we can do is repay that debt."

_So like him... and so... __**not**__..._ Jasmina's voice was hushed. _I... This is going to cause problems..._

_I will use each of you in turn. _Curtis said quietly, retracting his appendage and touching the boy. _Five minutes at most. Four and a half now. Understand? No more or you risk infection. Are any of you bleeding?_

"We understand." The two boys said in unison. The female just snuggled close to Jesselle. Curtis checked each of them, but their wounds had been treated. It wasn't perfect, but with Jesselle's energy literally seeping way... they had no choice.

**Just a few minutes later**

"Fuck me _sideways_..."

The soft, incredulous voice had Curtis turning his head. All three children had hands on Jesselle. Jesselle was still weak and her energy was still seeping out almost as fast as they could put it in. Curtis looked at the pitch black Nekros warframe that stood in the doorway and spoke softly.

_Tenno Nikis..._ Curtis begged. _Help?_

"Step away." Nikis said quietly as he moved forward, his hand outstretched over the girl. Both boys stared at him, obviously unsure. "I said _move_." He snapped.

"No hurt..." The little girl holding Jesselle said firmly. "No hurt momma!"

"_Momma?_" Nikis and Curtis both chorused at that.

"She did not bear us, but she protected us." The boy who had spoken to Curtis before said quietly. "We owe her. Do not hurt her."

"_She_ is not the one who is going to get hurt." The Nekros said with a snort. "This is gonna go over like a Sand Skate trying to _swim_. I better stick around. The big lunk ain't gonna react well. Not after... everything. It is going to be... interesting."

_Nikis, please!_ Curtis begged. _She is fading. She did so much. She did __**too**__ much! I... I can't help her._

"I know." The Nekros said with sigh as he held a hand out to the little girl beside Jesselle. "Mia, honey... come away. I won't hurt her."

"Wha-?" The girl asked, confused. "Me name M-1"

"No, your name is Mia." Nikis said heavily. "Or... the woman you were made from's name was Mia. You? I don't know." The girl took the Nekros' hand gingerly and he pulled her up and into an embrace where she snuggled close. "This is going to be a really big mess and there will be a lot of angry people. For _once_..." He said with a snort as he held his free hand over Jesselle and the girl vanished in a haze of orange energy. "I am not one of them."

"Where she go?" M-1 asked, scared. Nikis held her gently, brushing her short fuzzy hair a little.

"She is sleeping." Nikis said with a sigh. "She is safe. Nothing can harm her where she is. She will sleep and wake somewhere that people can help her. But now..." He shook his head staring at the other two who stared back. "This is one hell of a mess. _Figured_ on Grineer making a mess, but _geez_..."

"What... what did we do?" N-1 asked softly, worried. "I do not think I know you."

"You don't." Nikis said mildly. "But the being you were made from knew a lot of people. He... made a lot of people angry." The Nekros shook his head. "We will need to search, quick and quiet. Find out everything we can."

_For?_ Curtis asked as he rose from the bed and moved to the side to be out of the way. _My scouts mapped most of the facility._

"It won't be Grineer tech." Nikis said heavily, holding M-1 as she sighed and fell asleep in his arms. "If it holds true to pattern, it will be a small room with a few pods in it." He stilled as two more warframe approached. "Um... guys... We have a problem." The Trinity and Rhino froze on seeing what lay inside the room.

"Nikis..." Alicia's voice was horrified. "That... That _can't_ be..." The white Rhino had his shotgun drawn though and aimed. At _N-1!_

"Karl... it isn't him..." Nikis said quietly.

"It isn't Nicholas."


	8. Chapter 8

**Spiritual help**

She was asleep. But not. She was awake. But not. Jesselle could see and hear. But she could not speak or move. It was... odd. But the scene in front of her had her trying to scream as N-1 stepped forward and to the side, consciously placing himself out of the line of fire of everyone else.

"Fire if you must, Tenno." N-1 said calmly. "I do not know what I have done to you. But whatever it was... it was bad." Jesselle was screaming silently as he knelt and bowed his head. The other boy -she had never caught his name- moved to kneel beside his brother. M-1 slept on in Nikis' arms.

"If you are going to do it, Karl, do it." Nikis said softly. "We do not have a lot of time."

"The girl?" The Trinity asked softly. Jesselle stilled. Why were the Tenno suddenly _talking_. Nikis of course was a law unto himself, but others? She hadn't ever heard any Tenno voices but Nikis' and _that_ second hand. This woman... sounded worried, tired... a bit angry. Jesselle could feel the tension. She could not do anything about it though. It was frustrating.

"The Grineer messed her up." Nikis said, holding M-1 out to the Trinity who took her gently. "She looks like Mia. One of... the others."

"This is _insane._" The Trinity said with a shudder. "How the _hell_...?"

"We do not have time to _dick about_." Nikis snapped. "_Shoot_ or _move_, Karl." He strode towards the exit. "I need to get Jesselle somewhere safe. Saf_er_."

_Don't you __**dare**__ just leave them!_ Jesselle screamed and Nikis froze in midstep. _You Tenno are __**supposed**__ to be better than that!_ From their sudden tension everyone in the _room_ heard her voice.

"Nikis...?" The Trinity said slowly. "Um... isn't she in your buffer?"

"She _is_." Nikis said slowly. Something touched Jesselle and she recoiled. "Girl... Don't... aw shit..."

_They are not responsible for whatever you hate them for!_ Jesselle screamed louder. _They are inno- _Whatever was allowing her to speak suddenly cut off and she was weary. So weary. _Don't... please..._ She begged as darkness took her.

_If he was gonna, he would have by now, girl. Rest._ Nikis' voice was gentle. Soothing. She let it lull her into slumber again.

* * *

"Well, Karl?" Nikis asked as he finished making sure the girl slept again. His voice turned snide. "Going to stand there all day with your Hek aimed?"

"No." Karl spun on his heel and stalked off. Alicia stared after him and then slumped a bit.

"A little warning would not have been amiss, Nikis." The Trinity said with a sigh.

"I found out about a minute before you did." Nikis said quietly. "Curtis? Any luck finding pods?"

_There is a small room in the lower levels._ Curtis reported from where he stood against the wall. _There are pods and..._ He paused. _Some still have... human embryos inside._

"Not human. We need to evac them." Nikis said quietly. "Karl is off in a snit. Who is in charge?" Alicia just looked at him and Nikis shook his head savagely. "Oh no, not a _chance_. _Who_ is in _charge_?"

"If not you, then Will." Alicia said weakly, careful to hold the girl gently. "Nikis, what the hell is going on?"

"Not here." Nikis said quietly. "Boys. Come with me. Alicia, tell Will to get those pods and get them clear. _Now_. It is... pretty important to Jesselle. If we leave without them, she will be pissed and... helping her is going to be rough _enough_."

"All right." Alicia stepped to the door, still cradling M-1. "But we will want an explanation. Where do we take them?"

"The Relay." Nikis said as the boys stepped close to him. "And hurry. This is going to be rough, boys. But we _will_ get you somewhere safe. Jesselle can be treated there too."

"Anywhere not filled with _clones_ will be better than here." N-1 said with a scowl as he took Nikis' hand. The other did the same.

"Oh, I don't know about _that_." Nikis said with a snort. "But no clones trying to kill you. So..." He shrugged. "Probably better."

"Our brothers and sisters..." N-1 said, looking around the room at the sprawled forms. His face was sad. "Miss Jesselle tried. But they were dead. There was nothing she could do."

"We will get them." Alicia promised. "And we will be gentle."

"Thank you." N-1 said as energy flared around Nikis and then they were gone.

**Elsewhere**

Jesselle felt wrong. Everything was wrong. She was... it was... She was so tired. Nothing hurt, just a bone deep weariness.

"How _does_ she keep _waking_?" A soft, scared voice sounded from nearby. Female. Old. Powerful. But no one Jesselle knew.

"I don't know." A male voice answered the female. "She isn't supposed to be able to do that. Then again... She wasn't supposed to be able to do what she did either. Easy, girl... easy..." Something caressed Jesselle and she was comforted a bit.

"Tired..." Jesselle groaned. "So tired..."

"You need to sleep, girl." The male voice said kindly. "You are very weak and very sick."

"Trying..." Jesselle felt tears threaten and she fought them back. "Can't... What did I _do_?" She begged.

"It is not you." The female voice said gently as arms surrounded her and held her gently. "Well, part of it is. Part is what those idiot Grineer did to you. And then you feel responsible for what happened to the kids. Your worry for them is also keeping you awake."

"I was trying to _help!_" Jesselle bawled and the arms hugged her tight. "Messed it all up!"

"No, honey." The other woman reassured her. "No you didn't. It wasn't anything you did or did not do. They chose to fight, knowing they would die. Death is preferable to such slavery. You saved three of them."

"Out of _twelve!_" Jesselle sobbed. "Some rescuer I was... Couldn't even keep the Grineer's attention..." Something changed and she could _feel_ the other's worry. A wall blocked her, but... her power was out of control. It was going... everywhere. "I... No... Not again... I..."

"Jesselle..." The woman said quietly. "We are going to do something. It will hurt, but it will stop you from fading any further. We will block your power."

"Don't want this... this _horror_!" Jesselle screamed. "Take it! Take it _away_!"

"I am sorry, honey. We can't." The other said as the arms shifted and hands encompassed Jesselle's skull. "It won't hold forever. But it will let you sleep. Something you desperately need right now." She started to hum an old tune and Jesselle felt her worry easing.

Then the pain hit. Jesselle screamed and then it was gone. She sagged in the arms that held her. Her mind...was clear. Her power had faded to a miniscule bit that she squelched.

"Rest now, Jesselle." The woman said quietly. "When you wake, healers will tend you. They have been apprised. You are going to be okay, girl."

"Promise?" Jesselle begged, sleep coming for her.

"I promise." The other said as she rocked Jesselle to sleep.

* * *

**A small virtual environment**

The virtual world was silent. None of the holographic shades of Tenno moved as the sorely hurt girl finally sank into sleep.

"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes..." Trinity -the First- said softly. "...I never would have believed it. She broke right through the blocks like they were not even there. She is untrained. That was _raw power_." Awe sounded in her voice mixed with apprehension. "She is human. Not Tenno. And even _Tenno_ would have difficulty with that."

"The buffers of Nikis' warframe could not keep her asleep." A form in armor sort of like an Excalibur warframe -but not _quite_\- said soberly. He wore no helmet and his dark hair shone in the harsh light of the virtual world. "_We_ could not keep her asleep. Not even Janet had that kind of power." The First Tenno looked sad. "She... is not a threat. But she is."

"Her power is burning her out even as she uses it." Another Tenno wearing a Saryn Prime warframe said soberly. "She can't control it."

"So _what_?" Trinity demanded. "We _kill_ her? Wipe her _mind_? Do to her what the _Grineer_ would?"

"Trinity..." Hayden said quietly. "We can't help her." The First Trinity stared down at the girl in her arms and shuddered. "We _will_ look for options. She is blocked for the moment. She does not _want_ to be a threat. Pragmatically speaking, perhaps we _should_ kill her for the threat she poses, but... No." He said with shake of his head. "Not when there is hope of any kind. And those kids..." He sighed. "I really didn't want to talk to him again... I really didn't."

"Let me." A sultry voice sounded from nearby and everyone made way for Mag. The First Mag was not someone to anger and Nicholas _had_. "My spoon is ready."

"We need answers, Mag." Hayden said firmly. "Not just him screaming." Mag shrugged.

"I am always happy to help with such." Mag said in a totally fake demur tone. More than one of the surrounding Tenno laughed at that. Mag was _anything_ but demur.

"I will keep that in mind. But not right now." Hayden was trying hard not to smile as Mag pouted. "Trinity?" He asked the warframe who held Jesselle.

"Poor dear is finally asleep." Trinity said sadly. "I think we can hold her with her power under control. Hayden... it won't stay that way." She warned. "Once a door is forced open, it becomes far harder to shut again."

"I know." Hayden said with a sigh. "But Nikis and Janet will do what they can. We need to find out what we can. What Nicholas did. This... twelve of them and others... Too much to be a coincidence."

"We know he was trying to breed Tenno." Mag said, her usual bantering gone replaced by hate. Then again... she had _cause_. Most female Tenno did. "What he did to Karen. What he _would_ have done to Lis..." She shook her head. "Make it hurt."

"Oh I will." Hayden promised as he vanished. The other Tenno vanished as well. In moments, only Trinity sat, still holding Jesselle.

"I will stay with her." Trinity promised thin air and Janet appeared nearby. The Oracle had been crying. "It's not your fault, Janet. It is whatever the Grineer did." Janet went to her knees beside the kneeling warframe and touched Jesselle's hand tentatively.

"She was... always... such a good kid..." Janet said sadly. 'Why now? Why did she have to learn about focusing on duty _now?_"

"She had good teachers. I will stay with her. If it come to it... I will not make you do it." Trinity promised. Janet bowed her head and Trinity sighed. "She deserves better. But if she cannot control it..."

"I know." Janet said sadly. "I... cannot see a lot about those kids. I was trying to see where they came from. The Grineer found a tiny chamber inside an asteroid. It held the pods. They did not make them, they... used them on enslaved woman." Trinity slumped a bit and Janet nodded. "I cannot see much more than that."

"He would have protected any of his laboratories with the same cloaking tech that hid his dojo for so long." Trinity said heavily. "Nicholas was insane. He wasn't stupid."

"What can I do, Trinity?" Janet asked as she smoothed Jesselle's hair gently. "She is my daughter."

"Pray." Trinity said sadly. "Pray she is sane when she wakes up. If she is... they may be able to find a way to help her. If she is _not_..." Janet jerked, but then nodded.

"If she is not, make it quick." Janet begged and Trinity nodded.

"I had kids once too." Trinity said sadly. "I do not want to kill her. But..."

"I know." Janet's voice firmed. "If it comes to it... I will not blame you." Trinity just shook her head.

"I will."

* * *

"You want us to... _what?_"

Chief Executive Vina was not a retiring sort. One did not rise into the upper echelons of the Corpus without having a certain amount of strength of will. One did not _leave_ the Corpus, no matter the provocation, without learning quite a bit about one's self as well. Then again...the other person in her office was not one to take insults well, if at all. But right now He seemed worried. And when Grandmaster _Nikis_ was worried...

"They are kids, Vina." Nikis said with far more patience that he generally showed. "Kids with no idea why people are reacting as if they had seen ghosts of evil people. Not that most of them _were_..." The gunfighter mused. "The leader and a few of his closest? Sure. The rest? No. Just led badly."

"Like Lis." Vina paled and Nikis nodded. "So the Tenno...?"

"_Anyone_ who lost _anything_ to Nicholas will be looking for revenge." The Nekros said quietly. "We need these kids kept somewhere secure, away from most of the Tenno. We need Jesselle treated and monitored. She... did something she shouldn't have been able to." Vina paled further and Nikis nodded. "We don't know if she will be sane when she wakes."

"And I thought things were getting boring..." Vina said weakly as she sat in her chair with a plop. "'Be careful what you wish for', huh?"

"Yeah. 'You just might get it.'" Nikis replied. "If you can't, then you can't. Do _not_ try to stop any Tenno who may come. I do not think Karl will. But there are others. Lots of others. And Karl _has_ surprised me occasionally. Usually not in a good way." He mused.

"How many?" Vina asked, her face smoothing as she relaxed.

"Three survivors." Nikis said with a sigh. "Two more in pods who haven't been decanted yet. The Grineer used surrogates. The few records we found... were horrifying." Vina paled again. For the ancient, hard bitten gunfighter to say _that_...

"So... three young and two who haven't been born yet." Vina sighed. "If this were the Corpus, I would call the Clergy." She stilled as Nikis laughed. "What?" She demanded crossly.

"That is the best idea I have heard since this mess started." Nikis said with a sly grin in his voice. "They _do_ know about dealing with orphans, no?"

"Not _Tenno_ orphans." Vina protested.

"Kids, Vina." Nikis said with a sigh. "They are kids. I can tell they are not even flash grown. The Grineer let them grow normally for some reason. Well, except for the controls they put in the girls." He shook his head. "_We_ will handle the autopsies. Just in case there are any surprises. If there are, we will handle it."

"We have space." Vina said quietly. 'But we do not have a lot of excess staff. And any Tenno who comes... will not react well to these." Nikis shook his head. "Would you _trust_ the Clergy to handle something like this?"

"I do not think 'trust' is the right word." Nikis said after a moment's thought. "Tenno do not trust. We can't. Not even each other completely. Iriana and a few other healers are notable exceptions and Iriana's trust was abused too. We get along with each other fairly well. But there is always the wariness. Life has stabbed us in the back way too many times for any of us to trust. You understand. Which is one reason I like you." Vina grimaced and nodded.

"Iriana is coming." Vina said with a frown. "We got notice that she wanted to treat Jesselle and should step up security." Nikis nodded. "Why not take them to the Tower...?" She trailed off and then slapped her forehead. "Duh! Their genetic prints are on file at the Tower, aren't they?"

"That is where the renegades died." Nikis agreed. "Only one beside Lis still lives and he was being a pest. Taking them there is a bad idea. Both for what the Tower might do and because any Tenno can access the place easily."

"You really think someone is going to try to kill these kids?" Vina asked softly.

"No, I don't _think_ a darn thing." Nikis said softly. "I _know_ someone will. Nicholas made a lot of enemies." Vina stared at him and he sighed. "What?"

"How well did you know this renegade, Nikis?" Vina asked softly. Nikis did not respond and she shook her head. "Nikis, please? I will give them shelter. After everything you and the others have done, it is the least I can do. But... Why, Nikis. This is not just about Jesselle, is it?"

"I can't say, Vina." Nikis said softly.

"Oh." Vina swallowed hard and then nodded briskly. "Then... we can have quarters set up quickly. We do not have any clerics on staff. I think... if you can monitor them, someone from the Clergy would help. Both the children and Jesselle."

"Would they help?" Nikis asked quietly.

"I haven't... spoken to them since I got here..." Vina said with a frown. "It... hurts. All of us. But the separation may help us survive."

"Or it may drive you all mad." Nikis said with a grunt. "My authority. Talk to them." Vina looked scared and Nikis shook his head. "I can stop them if anything happens." Vina swallowed hard and her gaze went far away.

"I... hear... they.. She..." Vina was suddenly crying. "She was so worried. She feels us again. It... I..."

"Vina." Nikis pressed her gently.

"Right." The Executive said and then she smiled. "They say they can send someone, but getting her here will be hard."

"Hard on her, maybe." Nikis said quietly. "But we can do it with no lasting damage." Vina glared at him and he shrugged. "Does it hurt _now?_"

"No, but it hurt like hell at the time." Vina snapped. "You could have _warned_ me."

"There wasn't time." Nikis said with a shrug. "And you did very well. Most humans are blubbering when they come out of digitization. _You_ tried to take my head off. Which is why I left you with Oracle and her people to recover."

"Don't expected me to forgive or forget." Vina said with a glower.

"You are certainly not the type to." Nikis aid with a booming laugh. "The Clergy?"

"They are debating." Vina sighed. "It might take a while. It might not. They talk very fast, but... achieving consensus can be... Oh..." She jerked. "They did."

"Who are they sending?" Nikis asked. "I will get whoever and bring them."

"A Sister named Kieko."


	9. Chapter 9

**Mental**

Jesselle knew instantly that something had gone very wrong. She usually woke up quickly. It was basic training for Clergy personnel, even those like Jesselle who were tech or medic oriented. It took her several minutes to realize she was awake and several more to realize that she was not anywhere that she knew. Then a voice she _did_ know spoke from nearby.

"You know you are in trouble, right?"

Jesselle jerked and then turned to look. Yes, it _was_ Sister Keiko sitting at a table near the door to the room. The sister looked pale and wan, but her eyes were alight.

"Yes, Sister Keiko." Jesselle said quietly. "I know I am in trouble. I apologize..."

"If you think a _verbal apology_ will do, young lady..." The Sister said as she rose. Jesselle swallowed hard as she saw what was in the Sister's hand. A small flat object, marked with lines. "You can think _again_." She shook her head as she stepped closer to Jesselle's bed. "Drugging me was one thing. But you scared us _all_. _Every last one_ of us."

"I... ah..." Jesselle hung her head and held out her hand.

"This is from _me_, the Reverend Mother and _your_ mother." Keiko said as she brought the ancient ruler down on Jesselle's hand. Jesselle did not flinch and Keiko sighed. "_Stupid_ girl..."

"It... had to be done, Keiko." Jesselle said weakly as Keiko stung her hand with the ruler again. "They would have all _died_. I was... Ow!" She cried as Keiko struck her hand again. "Sister!" Jesselle said weakly. "I apologize... It just..." Suddenly she was crying. "I just..."

"Oh, Jesselle..." Keiko sat on the bed beside her and pulled her into an embrace. "You scared us all. And _not_ because of what you mom would do. No. We thought we had _lost_ you, girl." She gave Jesselle a shake. "If you _ever_ do such a _dumb_ thing again, I _will_ do as the rules demand and _paddle_ you." Corporal punishment was a fact of life among the Clergy. It worked as a deterrent in almost all cases.

"I... I didn't..." Jesselle sobbed as Keiko held her. "I just... I needed to do it. I was the only one who _could_..."

"That is not true, Jesselle." Keiko said firmly. "If you had _told_ us, we would have sent an agent. Someone _trained_ for such. Not an untrained girl on the cusp of womanhood."

"I... couldn't tell anyone." Jesselle said sadly. "I gave my word."

"And was your _word_ worth your _life_?" Keiko demanded. Jesselle went still and Keiko nodded. "They may not be able to fix what is wrong with you. If not... your power will grow out of control. If _that_ happens..." Jesselle swallowed hard and nodded.

"The I will be put down." Jesselle said softly.

"No." Keiko said firmly. "You are not an animal, Jesselle. You are a silly girl occasionally, but... We do know that your heart is in the right place. Until we know one way or the other, you will not be left alone for any reason. You will be under full time surveillance, both mechanical and organic. Telepathy does not work on mechanicals."

"I know." Jesselle hung her head. "I just... I wanted to talk to Mom and... then it was... they were kind, but... I... It didn't work as it should have. And now..." She slumped. "Now I am broken."

"Jesselle." Keiko said firmly. "You do not really know what that word means. I pray you never _do_. You are hurting, scared and sick. Not broken." She shook her head and let the girl go." Now... You have to get cleaned up and ready for some tests. The healers here need to run a bunch of tests."

"Where are we?" Jesselle asked as she sat up and swung her legs off the bed.

"I do not know." Keiko admitted. "Not anywhere I have been or seen. Some of our historians say it is an Orokin relay of some kind, refurbished." She waved a hand at Jesselle. "Go on. You are not bedridden,. Get clean. Now." She brandished the ruler again and Jesselle hurried to the cleaner unit.

"I..." Jesselle swallowed as she started to take off her patient gown. "How did you get here? I guess they brought me while I was asleep."

"I went by an extremely unpleasant route." Keiko said with a sigh. "Nothing I care to do again anytime soon. Get clean. Now!" She commanded and Jesselle hurriedly closed the shower stall.

Jesselle felt a bit better clean. She still felt... off. Not bad. Not wrong. Just... off. As if things were not quite as they should be. It only got worse when she left the room with Keiko holding her arm.

"Jesselle." The violet hulled MOA sounded... ambivalent and Jesselle winced.

"Uh... Hi Sheila." Jesselle said weakly. "I um... I know I made a mess."

"You have no _idea_." The MOA that wasn't one said with a snort. "The paperwork for this is going to take _years_."

"Well, then it is a good thing she likes being punished." Keiko said with a small smile. Jesselle winced and Keiko's smile blossomed into something nasty. "I can think of a few things you can do to make up for drugging me and fleeing the colony like you did. Helping to clean up the paperwork is just one of them."

"Shoot me?" Jesselle asked the MOA, not at all whimsically.

"Oh no." Sheila laughed merrily. "Misery loves company and you just earned the ire of every single bureaucrat in the Clergy with your escapades. I mean... theft of medical supplies, alteration of portals, evading capture, infiltrating a Grineer laboratory _without_ the proper forms filled out?" Jesselle winced harder and Shelia took pity on her. "Oh, relax Jesselle. We will have a _lot_ of paperwork, but I won't make you do it _alone_."

"Thanks." Jesselle said dryly. She sighed. "The kids?"

"What do you know about them, Jesselle?" Sheila asked quietly.

"They are not human." Jesselle said quietly. "I do not know what they are, but they are not human Their minds didn't... feel human."

"They are Tenno." Sheila made a sour noise. "Stupid Grineer found a set of pods and used what was in them. I can only imagine their surprise when human looking children popped out of the women they..." She broke off as Keiko snarled at her.

"Enough Sheila!" Keiko said with a snap and the MOA froze. Then it bobbed, her version of a nod. Jesselle paled.

"What did they do?" Jesselle begged. "The Grineer?"

"Not yet." Keiko said firmly. "First your tests. Then the kids would like to see you. They ask for you every day."

"Every...day...?" Jesselle swallowed hard. "How... long?"

"You have been asleep for three days, Jesselle." Keiko said quietly. "They were worried, so they kept you asleep until they were sure your brains hadn't been scrambled by what you did."

"No more scrambled than they _were_." Sheila said with a laugh. Jesselle... did not.

"Can you stop me if it comes to it?" Jesselle asked the MOA who froze in place. It turned to Keiko who pursed her lips and shook her head.

"My brain is organic, Jesselle." Sheila said softly. "If you...do what you did... I am just as vulnerable as any Grineer. Maybe more so." Jesselle recoiled, but Keiko had a grip on her arm and she did not fight the older woman. "Jesselle, we need to test. To find out if this can be fixed."

"You must have tested while I slept." Jesselle said weakly, but did not resist as Keiko started off, pulling her gently. The MOA fell into step beside them.

"We did." Sheila said with a sigh. "But there are some tests that can only be done with you awake and aware. Nothing that should hurt. But we need to figure out what happened and why. Then... maybe we can fix it. As it is now?"

"You can't." Jesselle's words were a statement.

"We don't _know_." Sheila corrected her. "None of the Tenno we have normal contact with are talking to us about this. Your mom is being awfully closemouthed too."

"She has to be." Jesselle said automatically. "I... I will not resist. Do what you have to."

"Jesselle." Sheila said with a hint of reproof. "You know better. We will do nothing without a concrete reason."

"This is a hell of a weapon." Jesselle said sadly. "Which is what the Grineer must have wanted. They..." She paused. "The programming?"

"We are working on it." Sheila promised her. "It won't be easy. But with you awake and able to talk to the docs... it should go faster."

"No time like the present then." Jesselle said, straightening her shoulders. "Let's do this."

* * *

**Later**

It felt...wrong.

The medics were kind. They did not strap Jesselle down. They did not slap a helmet on her or drug her. They explained everything they did and they worked to keep her calm and comfortable while their scans ran. But the tests...

She could her murmurs now. Just beyond her hearing. Voices. Sounds. She knew it was her ability working and fought hard to get past it. She let them know every time the murmurs got louder and the docs worked hard to help. But the drugs did not work as they should.

"I do not understand." Jesselle said weakly while she took a break that the docs ordered. She lay on her side on the scan bed, sipping a nutrient drink the docs had given her. "Why doesn't the blocker work?"

"Jesselle..." Sheila hadn't left her side. Keiko likewise. "You dosed yourself heavy with that telepathic blocker. But then you blew right past it. Your mind is ignoring it now. Anything weaker will be ignored as well. Anything stronger..." She trailed off as Jesselle sighed.

"Might kill me." Jesselle finished for the MOA. She shook her head as Keiko glared at her and sipped the drink again. "Geez... _One_ mother was bad _enough_. Now I have _several_."

"You scared us all." Keiko said firmly. "Finish it up."

"Yes, Ma'am." Jesselle said meekly and drank. "The murmurs are getting louder." She said with a gulp. "I can't... hear anything concrete. But that is not good, is it?" Keiko shook her head, her face set and Jesselle nodded. Another voice spoke up.

"No, it is not good." Healer Iriana's face was sad as she stepped close. "This is why none of us wanted you to go. Not because of _this_ per say..." She waved a hand at Jesselle who nodded slowly. "But because we _knew_ they would hurt you, if not _how_."

Iriana had appeared during the first set of tests and smoothly taken over. No one had seemed to mind. Indeed, most of the docs seemed relieved to have the Healer present. Truth be told? Jesselle felt the same. Iriana was good. She was kind, gentle, funny and very, very good at what she did.

"So the blocker drugs do not work." Jesselle said softly. "And my own training is inadequate to stop what I did..." Iriana nodded and Jesselle slumped a bit. "I... I see."

"There is one possibility, Jesselle." Iriana said softly. "But frankly... it is a long shot. There is a lot of debate happening." Jesselle stared at her and Iriana made a face. "I cannot talk about it beyond that. For now? We can control you. It won't be pleasant, but we can reverse what the Grineer did and control you until we can." She held up a thin metal thing and Jesselle stared at it.

"What did they do?" Jesselle asked, eyeing the metal thing in the Healer's hand.

"What they did was not just mental, Jesselle." Iriana said gently as Sheila moved close to the bed. Keiko sat on the bed and took Jesselle's free hand in her own. "You do not want to hear this. But you must."

"What did they do?" Jesselle begged.

"In a moment. I need you to put this around your head, Jesselle." Iriana said slowly. "And I need you to do it now."

"Me?" Jesselle stared at the Healer, confused. "Why me?"

"Because the only thing that can stop someone as powerful as you are..." Iriana said softly. "...is _you_."

"I don't understand." Jesselle eyed the thin metal...thing. Fear trickled through her. Not just hers.

"What this does..." Iriana said, holding the metal thing out to Jesselle. "...is create a feedback loop of mental energy. It won't hurt." Her voice was gentle, so gentle. "But it will be very uncomfortable. You will not hear anything in your mind. Nothing at all. It will not last forever. But it will last long enough for us to repair what the Grineer did."

"And if you tell me... before I have that on..." Jesselle swallowed hard. "I will be upset. Maybe upset enough to shatter the blocks..." Iriana nodded and Jesselle grabbed the metal thing and slid it over her head. "What do I-?"

Silence.

Jesselle's world was suddenly silent. She could see Iriana, Sheila and Keiko. All looked scared. But she couldn't hear. She could feel the metal under her fingers, but it... it felt...wrong. She forced her hands way from her skull through sheer force of will.

"It... I..." Jesselle gasped out, then froze. She couldn't hear her voice! "What? No! I can't her myself! I can't hear!" She begged. Keiko took one hand and Iriana the other.

"I know, Jesselle." Iriana's voice cut through the silence in Jesselle's skull like a knife. "You cannot hear yourself speak. Your mental voice drowned out your physical one. You stopped using your physical voice." Jesselle stared at her and Iriana sighed sadly. "And you never even _realized_ it."

"Oh god!" Jesselle screamed. "No! I can't... This... no!" She tried to reach up, to pull the circlet off her head, but the two women held her hands fast. "Let go! I... I have to hear myself speak!" She screamed into the silence in her mind.

"Jesselle!" Keiko commanded. "Calm down! Talk to us! _Speak_. As in _open_ your _mouth_ and let _air_ pass through!" Jesselle focused herself and fought to open her mouth. It did. A croak sounded. Was that her _voice_?

"Help!" That... did not sound like her. Not at all. The voice sounded sick and weak and hoarse from screaming.

"We will, Jesselle." Iriana promised. "But you won't be able to remove the circlet. It is fused to your skin. Until we -the doctors- decide that you are not a threat to everyone... you have to remain confined."

"No!" Jesselle screamed into the silence in her head, wetness falling from her eyes. Keiko and Iriana held her as she cried.

* * *

It took awhile, but eventually, Jesselle calmed. She forced her mouth open again and spoke. Her voice... sounded worse.

"What... did they do... to me?" Jesselle pleaded with the Healer and Sister. Sheila and Keiko looked at the Healer who nodded, her face set.

"They stimulated the parts of your brain that generate telepathy." Iriana said quietly. It was very odd. Jesselle could hear her. But... It was... weird. "They used drugs and actual physical stimulation." Jesselle shook her head slowly, dumbfounded and Iriana continued. "But they did not stop there." Jesselle felt her body go still and the Healer nodded. "They did not implant you with control mechanisms, but they did transplant in cloned tissue."

"Cloned?" Jesselle managed to get out. Iriana gave her hand a squeeze.

"Cloned from you." Iriana said softly. "Not a lot. A few cubic centimeters. But cloned from your brain tissue and transplanted into the part of your brain that generates and controls telepathy."

"So... they enhanced my ability..." Jesselle said, her world rocking. "And then tried to program me to be Grineer." Iriana shook her head.

"_Talk_, Jesselle." Iriana said sternly. "Use your _mouth_ not your _mind_."

"Aw geez..." Jesselle groaned aloud. "This _sucks_." She forced herself to focus and spoke aloud again. "They enhanced my telepathy and tried to make me Grineer. The programming?"

"Gone." Iriana said with a frown. "Crude. This Doctor Tengus may be the Grineer equivalent of a mental technician, but his methods are barbaric in the extreme. Not even the _Orokin_ would have done such and _that_ is saying something."

"What can I do?" Jesselle managed to get the words out past her fear. Her voice...was wrong. "And... voice?"

"You strained your voice screaming, Jesselle." Iriana said gently. "We will work on that. Does it hurt?" Jesselle shook her head. "Good." She shook her head. "We may not be able to fix this, Jesselle."

"I... understand." Jesselle said aloud. "My... choice. If need, I do."

"No." Iriana, Sheila and Keiko all chorused. The other two deferred to the Healer. Iriana continued. "Jesselle, there _is_ hope. For now? You need to heal and acclimatize to not using telepathy for all of your communication. It was easier. So that is what you did. The Grineer encouraged that. They wanted you to focus on your power."

"_Oops?_" Jesselle asked aloud with a grin. Iriana chuckled at that.

"Yeah, Jesselle, I would say that qualifies as an 'Oops' on the Grineer's part. Talk about shooting yourself in the _foot_." The Healer smiled. "Now? Your scans for the day are done. We have a lot of data to go over and you need to rest, acclimatize to this new situation. You also need to practice speaking aloud. It _will_ come back."

"What...do?" Jesselle asked, careful to form her words and put them out.

"Some people would like to talk to you." Iriana rose from the bed and pulled Jesselle up. "Better brace yourself."

"For?" Jesselle asked as Iriana led her from the room, Keiko and Sheila following.

She went still as they entered a new room. It was set up as a playroom and all three of the small forms in the room were building something with blocks. But all three looked up to see Jesselle and all three burst into smiles. M-1, N-1 and the other who Jesselle did not remember the name of all rose and ran towards her.

"Momma!"


	10. Chapter 10

**Children or Not?**

It wasn't funny.

It wasn't funny at _all_.

It didn't help that Sheila was snickering. That Iriana and Keiko were both hiding grins behind their hands. Jesselle had her hands full. Literally full. N-1 and the other boy had hugged her once and retreated. M-1... had not. The girl was crying and hugging Jesselle like there was no tomorrow.

"A little help?" Jesselle managed to get the words out. Her throat was starting to hurt, but she ignored it.

"You are doing fine." Keiko said with a smile. Iriana just watched with Sheila from the door. A door that Jesselle suddenly realized had been locked. From the _outside_. This wasn't a playroom. It was a _cell!_

It was... a comfortable cell, with three beds laid against one wall. A few toys were scattered here and there, with the blocks that had been so precipitously abandoned sitting in the middle of the floor. Jesselle examined M-1 and the others as best she could, but none showed signs of any restraints. So... what?

"M-1..." Jesselle paused. "Or do you have a name?"

"Man in black call me Mia." M-1 said as she hugged Jesselle tight. "Not sure. Not... right. No feel right." Jesselle gave up extricating herself from the girl and hugged her back. "You so weak and still. We worry you die."

"I didn't." Jesselle reassured the girl and then patted her head a bit awkwardly. "You... How have you been treated?"

"They nice." M-1's voice was muffled, speaking as she was through Jesselle's leg. "Miss Iriana and others nice. Others... angry. No know why."

"Whoever made us... made a bunch of people angry." N-1 said quietly from where he stood. Jesselle looked at him and he frowned. "We never found out who did it. We found a few records. We kept them from the clones as best we could. We taught... our siblings as best we could."

"You survived." Jesselle said with a sigh as she bent down to hug M-1 who swarmed up to hug her back. "What do you want me to call you?" She asked M-1. "Mia or M-1?"

"Me M-1." The girl said sadly. "No this...'Mia'. She bad."

"No Honey." Iriana said sadly. "She wasn't bad. Just badly led. She followed someone who she shouldn't have."

"Me no want be bad!" Mia sobbed into Jesselle's chest. "Me want a momma! Me want a life! Me no want be bad!"

"M-1..." Jesselle said softly. "I cannot be your Momma. I am human. You are not."

"Me no _care!_" M-1 screamed and hugged Jesselle tight enough to hurt. Jesselle fought the shudder than ran though her, trying to soothe the distraught girl.

"M-1..." N-1 said quietly. "That sounds like Grineer." The girl froze. "All about _me_. Me, me, me, me, me. Selfish."

"I... No..." The girl stared from her brother to Jesselle and back. "No... Me... me just want..."

"I know." Jesselle said sadly as she sat on the floor and pulled the now crying girl into her lap. "M-1, it is not your fault. They hurt you. Maybe the docs can help." She looked at Iriana who slowly shook her head. Jesselle felt her heart plummet and then she hugged the girl gently. She rocked M-1 in her arms and the girl slowly relaxed. "I am not what you need, M-1. I still care for you. But I am not what you need."

"Me want _Momma_." M-1 begged and Jesselle felt her heart fall to pieces as the girl cried.

"I am not a mother, M-1." Jesselle said sadly. "Not yet. Maybe not _ever_ as crazy as my life has gotten. But that doesn't mean I cannot love you." The girl hugged her tighter and Jesselle rocked her gently, crooning. M-1 slowly relaxed and then fell asleep. Jesselle rose, lifting the girl carefully. One of the boys moved to a bed and turned the sheet back. Not N-1. The other.

"She will sleep for a few hours." N-1 said softly. "She... likely will not remember this when she wakes."

Jesselle nodded as she laid the girl down. Then, on impulse, she bent down and kissed M-1's cheek. The girl murmured in her sleep, but a smile crept onto her face as she slumbered.

"You are the eldest." Jesselle said quietly as she moved to scrutinize the boy who nodded.

"I am." N-1 said with a frown. "You are talking with your mouth. You didn't... after they brought you back."

"I am a mess." Jesselle said in a self deprecating way. "The...ability I have wasn't supposed to do what it did."

"Are you all right?" The other boy asked, his face worried.

"Mostly. My throat hurts, but they will fix that." Jesselle shrugged. "The docs need to do some stuff with me. Work on some of my problems, try to fix what I did to myself."

"You didn't, Miss Jesselle." N-1 said softly. "The Grineer did."

"They hurt me." Jesselle shrugged. "But everything else that happened came from inside me." She gave a deep sigh. "It seemed so easy, in theory. In actual practice? Not so easy."

"Nothing ever is." Keiko said with a tiny frown. When Jesselle looked at her, the older Clergywoman inclined her head at the door, just a little.

"You three... going to be okay?" Jesselle asked lamely.

"Whatever happens, Miss Jesselle..." N-1 said quietly. "Thank you. You got us away from the clones. Even if the worst comes, we die free."

Jesselle stared at him and then her lip started to quiver. He stepped up and hugged her before stepping back. The other boy... hadn't moved. Jesselle turned to the door and her eyes went huge. Was that a weapon that had extruded from Sheila's housing? A _weapon_? Sheila didn't _use_ weapons! She didn't _believe_ in them! So... what...? Keiko took her hand and led her from the room, the others following. It was not Jesselle's imagination that several things went 'thunk' when the door closed. Sealed and _locked_.

"What the hell?" Jesselle demanded as she jerked her hand from Keiko's. "Sheila? Since when are _you_ armed?"

"Since we did not know if they would try to take you hostage or not." The MOA replied evenly. Jesselle stared at her as the MOA retracted it's weapon. "They are lying."

"About _what?_" Jesselle snapped, her ire rising.

"Jesselle... think." Keiko said firmly. "Why would _Grineer_ keep _human_ or _Tenno_ children around?" Jesselle went still and the other Clergywoman nodded. "They wouldn't."

"So... what?" Jesselle asked, her ire changing to worry. "_They_ are Grineer?"

"No." Iriana's voice was quiet now. "They are something we have not seen before. The... scans we did on the others show full human. But..." She shrugged. "That makes no sense. Grineer wouldn't keep humans around no matter how useful they might be. That is not their way."

"So... _what_?" Jesselle repeated, still angry.

"We need to find out." Iriana was calm. "And that starts with you. We have done the preliminary scans. Now we need to undo what the Grineer did." Jesselle stared at her and swallowed. Iriana's face was sad, but kind. "We won't hurt you, girl."

"I know." Jesselle gave herself a shake. Keiko held out a hand. Jesselle realized the other hand had not left her sleeve. Hadn't the whole time Jesselle had been in the room. Holding a weapon more than likely. She held out her hand to Keiko and let the Clergywoman pull her forward. Sheila stepped close behind. Jesselle shook her head. "You think the kids did something to me?"

"We don't know." Iriana said quietly. "Come. We need to find out. Get rid of the trash in your skull and find out what else is wrong. Fix it."

"And the kids?" Jesselle started off under Keiko's urging.

"That is under discussion."

* * *

**Avalon**

"Stand down." The words were calm, but the tension in the room went through the roof. "Now!"

To say that the declaration that Karl had just made to the Empress and her inner court was electrifying was true. But it didn't do it justice. Karen and Miguel stood as a solid block of BDU clad fury. Lis was only present as a hologram, since her body was still being repaired, but she too stood with them. None of the three had known what Karl was going to say. None of them had reacted well. At least Karen and Miguel were disciplined enough to relax when ordered. Lis just hissed in fury and the Empress shook her head. Then she thundered.

"I said '_stand down'_, Tenno Lis!" Eliza snapped. "I do _not_ command Tenno, but you had the right to hear this. The healers will get upset if we hinder your recovery. Do _not_ make me exclude you."

"Yes..." Lis' transparent form slowly relaxed from its combat crouch. "Empress. Under protest."

"Noted." Eliza said with a nod. "And frankly? I _agree_." She said to the room. "I was only peripherally aware of the mess at the time. I heard about what happened on Mars, of course. But... it did not impact me specifically." Old shame sang in her voice now. "I was... busy."

"Mother." Princess Michelle said softly. "Not your fault. We were a handful. All of us, even after we went to training." She smiled a bit forlornly and Eliza shared it. Then the Princess turned to the Marines. "This has to be some kind of Grineer trick. He is _dead_. _More_ than dead." She looked at the sole occupant of the room who had not spoken and Nikis nodded.

"Nicholas _is _dead." Nikis said calmly. "And yes, he is suffering for what he did to so many."

"Does Olim know about this?" Michelle asked, worried. "He was hurt too."

"He is in the field." Karl said with a shrug. "He plays a lot of what he knows close to his chest. He has a lot of secrets. As to how he will react? I do not know."

"Is he having any luck training Quais?" Eliza asked, her tone curious. Karl shrugged again. "He hasn't _told_ you?"

"Empress, that is Cyberlancer business." Karl said with a frown that was clear right through his closed faceplate. "I am just his clan leader. He hasn't stinted on his clan duties so I have no call to ask personal questions." The Princess and Empress stared at him and he shrugged a third time. "If he has problems, he will come to me. Until then? His business."

"Tenno Karl..." Eliza spoke carefully. "More Cyberlancers are what we need. Especially if -as you say- the Sentients are showing themselves again." More than one person in the room shuddered at that.

"You can ask him." Karl's voice held just a hint of reproof. "_I _have been a bit busy."

"That you have." Eliza said with a sigh. "And that is entirely _our_ fault." She shook her head. "I will ask when I see him next." She gave herself shake. "Marines? Thoughts?" Karen looked at Miguel who grimaced and nodded.

"The numbers do not add up." Miguel said after a moment. "There were twelve renegades at first. Nicholas, Mack, Gregor, Kodas, Zang, Luc, Mia, Goeg, Zintas, Mina, Cora and Graf."

"Mia and Graf died on Ceres." Karl's words were nearly inaudible. Everyone looked at him and he shook his head. "I do not know if the enemy killed them or if they tried to buck Nicholas' command. They died."

"So twelve opened pods..." Miguel said after a moment. "And two others." He looked at Karen who looked decidedly upset. He shook his head. "We are not going to like this, are we?"

"No, you are not." Nikis said, still calm. Everyone looked at him and he nodded to the Marines. "Karen's body was infertile. No reproductive organs. Mari and you..." He nodded to Miguel. "Donated."

"_Donated_." Miguel said slowly. Feeling the word out. "Not so bad when you say it like that."

"Still _bad_." Nikis sighed. "All of the tech we found is human but that proves nothing. Nicholas was scrounging anything and everything he could get his hands on." The Nekros shook his head. "Hopefully we will get some answers from his shade. It may take a while. Mag was... fairly thorough the last time she hurt him."

"My heart _bleeds_." Karen's voice could have frozen liquid helium. Miguel looked at her and she jerked to attention. "No excuse, Gunny."

"Oh, I think you and I have an excuse for being _seriously_ pissed off." Miguel replied evenly. "But only this _once_. Do it again and I _will_ drop you for pushups, PFC." He warned. She nodded, silent.

"So we have three very young Tenno and two... who may be Tenno or not..." Eliza said slowly. "All of whom were in a Grineer laboratory." Karl nodded at that and she grimaced. "The autopsies?"

"All of the deceased were slain using Grineer weapons." Karl said in a clinical tone that fooled no one. "The females had controls placed inside their skulls, all of which did irreparable brain damage. The other bodies show no signs of tampering."

"Why just the girls?" Eliza asked, her face wrinkling in disgust.

"They did the same for the girls they stole from the Corpus." Karl said with a shrug. "All but one were recovered and sent to the Clergy. They may or may not be able to help them. The one? She... The Caretakers took her."

"And Oracle's daughter?" Eliza asked, worry showing now. Then again, she knew Janet. She knew what Janet was capable of. Anyone _sane_ feared Janet's wrath as much as they feared Nikis'. Maybe more. _Nikis_ would likely just kill the person. Janet would _take her time_. If her daughter was permanently injured... She looked at Nikis who nodded.

"Jesselle seems to have developed an oddly powerful level of telepathy. Obviously artificial." The ancient gunfighter said with a shrug. "The healers are cautious but hopeful. If it is something the Grineer did, it can probably be undone."

"And if it is not?" Eliza asked, her face going blank.

"I spoke with Oracle before coming here." Nikis said quietly. "Her words were... and I quote: 'Jesselle knew the risks. Do what is needed'." Eliza was hardly the only person to inhale in shock at that. "You know _someone_ will go for the kids." He warned. "Nicholas made _way_ too many enemies for it to be any other way. Not Olim... he won't shoot a five year old. But others..." He shrugged.

"Yes." Eliza said sadly. "And we cannot bring them here. Too many unknowns. Even if the Grineer did not alter them somehow... Then whatever they were made for. Why did they appear _now?_" No one answered and she sighed. "Any records recovered from the facility?"

"We had time to download quite a few records." Karl replied evenly. "We haven't had a lot of time to do data searches. Cecelia is working through the data now."

"Well, if anything is there, she will find it." Eliza said with a snort that others shared. "Now as to how _fast_..." She shrugged.

Cecelia was a good archivist. That is, she kept meticulous records and preserved all of the data she perused. But that did not make her quick to do searches of data she did not know intimately. She wouldn't miss anything. _Anything_. She wasn't a machine anymore, she just _acted_ like one occasionally. If any data was there... she would-

Everything stopped as a com chimed. Eliza stiffened and spoke sharply.

"We were not to be disturbed." Eliza said sternly. She went still as the last person she might have expected responded.

"Empress!" Cecelia's voice was terrified. "We need to warn Iriana! Now! The Grineer didn't just augment Jesselle's telepathy!"

"What did they do?" Eliza demanded as Karl started to move for the door.

"They enslaved her." Cecelia said firmly. "I found the records of the controls they put in."

"But Iriana removed those controls." Eliza said, relaxing.

"She removed _one_ set." Cecelia replied, if anything, more scared.

"There are _four_!"

**Back at the Relay**

Jesselle was not afraid. She knew Iriana's skill. She knew Sheila's skill. She knew -intellectually- that while there was danger to her, the Healers would not let anything happen to her if they could help it. But she felt... wrong. Something was wrong. She was comfortable lying on her back even with her skull encased in machinery preparing to open the cranium.

"Healer?" She asked as Iriana attached a mask to her face. The cool gas felt soothing.

"Ready to sleep, Jesselle?" Iriana asked gently.

"Something is wrong." Jesselle said weakly. "I... I feel..." She tried to reach out with her mind and felt nothing. The band was still in place.

"We have to get that junk out of your brain." Shelia said from nearby. The medical MOA was still, but a number of attachments were extruding from it. "And you really want to sleep through it."

"I know." Jesselle said weakly. "Just... something feels wrong." She paused and then hissed. "I feel..." Her eyes went huge as something grabbed hold of part of her mind. Something... familiar. "Iriana, Sheila! Get out of here!"

"What?" Iriana paused as Jesselle tried to roll away from her, but was stymied by the gentle restraints they had encased her in. "Jesselle, don't move!" She snapped.

"I can hear..." Jesselle said weakly as something hissed nearby and she was suddenly floating. "I can hear..."

"What Jesselle?" Iriana asked, worried. "What do you hear?"

"He is..." Jesselle was crying now. "He is trying... I... I can't..." She jerked and then her voice spoke again. But it wasn't _her_ voice.

"Well, well, well..." The voice of the Grineer doctor sang from her mouth as Iriana and Sheila both retreated a step. "What have we here?"

_Get out of my mind!_ Jesselle screamed silently.

"Silly girl." The voice spoke from her mouth again and... the band around her skull flared and fell off. "It is not your mind anymore. Now? It is ours. You are ours. All of these..." Jesselle quailed as the restraints holding her clicked and opened. Her body sat up as Iriana and Sheila recoiled, but froze in place as her mind grabbed hold of theirs and held them tight. "Are mine."

"All this time, all of the clones spent trying and a puling human brat gives us access." The doctor said with glee.

"And now? The hospital is _mine_."

_Never!_ Jesselle screamed in her mind but a bludgeon of power slammed into her and she was falling.

"Know your place slave." The doctor retorted evenly. "Even _you_ will learn." The malice... was cold. Clinical. Precise. That made it... worse somehow.

"Eventually."


	11. Chapter 11

**Miscoding**

Jesselle had no idea what she was doing. But she had to do _something_. The only good news was that the doctor apparently could not access her mind, despite having control of her body and ability. Otherwise he would know she wasn't in the hospital. She squelched any thought of where she actually was as her body stepped forward and her eyes swept over the still Tenno and MOA that stood nearby. They moved without her control.

"All this time..." The male voice from her throat sounded bemused. "All this effort and a _base_ gives us access." Jesselle snarled and redoubled her efforts to break free. He sighed. "Be _silent_, slave!"

Something slammed into her. She rolled as she had been taught. Sort of. It wasn't physical, but... She was...elsewhere. She stood in a golden room. The walls... She stared as the walls of the room came alive. The walls were golden _code_! It was scrolling from the ceiling to the floor and... She stared. She could read it! An anguished scream came from nearby and she spun in place to see a warframe fighting...something. No... _Four_ somethings! The warframe was female anatomically, but...

Jesselle jerked as lines of dark code slammed from the four things surrounding the warframe. Golden code shimmered into place around the Tenno and she held firm despite the onslaught. Jesselle felt... odd. Calm. Suddenly, she wasn't afraid. She stared down and... her hands were glowing with golden code. It crept up her body and she smiled and she sat. She was no warrior. She did not have to be. She _did_ know code. She had always wanted to be an programmer and analyst, not a field agent like her mom and dad. She knew her strengths and weaknesses better than any Grineer.

"This mind is ours!" The four things said in eerie unison. The Tenno did not respond, the bladed staff she held motionless, ready to strike or parry.

"Is it?" Jesselle asked quietly. The Tenno did not move as two of the four things that surrounded her focused on Jesselle. "There is a problem with that."

"You are _nothing_!" The voice snapped. "A weak, puling base who will serve Grineer perfection." The Trinity warframe... -Jesselle recognized it now- paused.

"Perfection?" Jesselle asked, her tone calm despite one of the things now striding for her. "Far from it. You put the command line in M-1, didn't you?" She shook her head. "I felt... off as soon as she hugged me. She didn't know. How could she?" The girl asked rhetorically. "Actually. All three of them." She mused. But her mind was moving at lightspeed. "You _do_ know that my mind is going to burn out very quickly in the real world." She asked and the four malevolent entities seemed to pause at her clinical tone. "Yes?"

"What are you doing?" The other demanded, suddenly suspicious.

"Me?" Jesselle asked quietly. "What can a _weak puling_ _base_ do?" She asked as her consciousness insinuated itself into the code that was now suffusing every corner of her... her mind. She smiled. "_This._ Tenno?" She asked and the Trinity stared at her. "My fight. Thank you." She inclined her head and crossed her arms in a formal bow.

"What are you doing?" The Grineer mind snapped.

"Just out of curiosity, you sorry mental copy of an insane doctor... Since I am not a medical professional or a trained telepath." Jesselle said softly, but rage lay just underneath. "What _happens_ to a mind if it is _inside_ another that dies?"

"Girl..." The voice was the Trinity was hushed. "Don't..."

"He will flee." Jesselle said with a sigh. "He is no warrior. He is a _bully_. Threaten him with someone who can fight back and he will flee. Every time. I just hope someone finds you soon, Doctor Tengus. Finds you and _ends_ you."

"You are _mine_!" The four voice screamed in unison.

"Fuck you." Jesselle worked to project the most rebellious, teenage offhand dismissal that she could manage. Then she paused. "Actually... _Ick_..." She shook her head. "No, I don't want to. Go... play with a Sand Skate or something. Maybe have fun with a Drahk? That is more in line with what you Grineer do anyway. You are all _animals_. Every last _one_."

"Rich coming from a _base_." The Grineer mind said firmly as _two_ of the dark forms advanced on Jesselle's still seated form. "You are so primitive it is pathetic. Your diversions are quaint."

"I am not a soldier or warrior." Jesselle said with a sigh that turned into a smirk as one of the dark forms suddenly vanished. A hole in the floor sealed. A pit had opened as it had stepped forward. "Then again... I do not _have_ to be. _My_ mind. _My_ rules." A scream tore from the _three_ throats as the Trinity was in motion, her bladed staff slicing as she attacked the two forms that were frozen in place near her. "I _do_ know code."

"You will die when I decide! Until then, you _will_ serve!" The third dark from was approaching now, it's vaguely humanoid form hazy and indistinct even here. It was composed of dark code.

"As she said, there is a minor problem with that." A new voice sounded and Jesselle stared as a dark form appeared beside her. The male Tenno wore a warframe with odd golden hoops on its head. One hand held a huge glowing golden mace. Olim, the Cyberlancer! The Clergy had heard...some. "She isn't yours."

"The base is mine!" The other screamed as the Trinity sliced one of the dark forms in half. It fell, both halves scrabbling for purchase on the floor. She stamped and one half vanished in a haze of golden code. "It is _mine_!"

"My _name_ is Jesselle." The girl said firmly as golden code formed around her hands. "And I am not your slave." She finished the code and looked at the Frost Prime. "Check me?"

"It is good." Olim reassured her gently. Jesselle nodded and threw a hand forward. The code flew from it to hit the dark from. In moments, the darkness was wrapped in an ever growing coil of golden code. Tendrils of said golden code flew as the thing struggled. Bits landed on each other dark form and suddenly all three were struggling in bonds of gold. The Trinity lowered her weapon and stepped away as each was pulled into tighter and tighter bundles. Olim nodded to Jesselle. "Nicely done."

"I... I don't know what to do now." Jesselle said weakly. "It... This isn't something they taught in any of my classes."

"No." Olim said as he laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. "How long have you known?"

"I... wasn't sure what it was." Jesselle said sadly. "Coding was always easy for me. But this kind of thing always felt wrong."

"Your telepathy was enhanced." Olim said quietly. "What do you sense?"

"I can't scan you!" Jesselle said with a snap. She froze as his hand tightened on her shoulder. "I can't... You are Tenno... I will die. The power is different... I am..." She went still as he knelt beside her.

"Jesselle... trust me." Olim said gently. "Close your eyes. Still your mind. What do you sense?"

"But I _can't!_" Jesselle wailed. The Trinity knelt on her other side, the female Tenno taking her hands in a gentle grip.

"The only limits are the ones we set ourselves, Jesselle." The Trinity said gently. "Either way, this is going to hurt, girl. Change is rarely pleasant or easy. This... will be a rebirth in a number of ways. Your mother loves you, will _always_ love you. But you need help and the Clergy cannot. We _can_."

"I am scared." Jesselle said as the three dark forms were pulled into tiny orbs that flew into a hand that the Trinity held up. The warframe laid her hand back on Jesselle's.

"I know." The female Tenno said with a sigh. "But you are not alone."

"I..." Jesselle focused on her breathing and forced her mind to still. "What are my options?"

"You have three." The Trinity said quietly. "One, you go to sleep and do not wake up. A cerebral hemorrhage. You will be mourned. " She was crying now and Jesselle bowed her head. "Two, you wake up back at the Clergy breeding colony. All of this will have been a bad dream. You will have no telepathy or any other gifts and while others may act oddly around you on occasion, you will not take note of it. You will live, have children, perhaps find love and perhaps not. In the end, you will perish as a human."

"And I will never see my mother again." Jesselle said softly. Olim and the Trinity both nodded. "And third?"

"You join us." Olim said softly. Jesselle stared at him.

"But I am human." Jesselle said weakly.

"_So?_" The Trinity and Frost Prime both chorused.

"I am not like you." Jesselle said weakly. "I... I am not Tenno."

"I was not born Tenno, Jesselle." The Trinity said quietly. "And the gift... The ability to do what you did here... is rare. Very, very rare."

"In all my time of searching, I have only found two who have the ability." Olim agreed. "One is _you_. Even Abigail cannot do what you did here, Jesselle."

"But..." Jesselle protested.

"Jesselle..." The Trinity said gently. "_You_ created this virtual world. I was battling the controls across your mind and then I was here, with all four of them in one place. Then you trapped one." She paused. "Where, by the way?"

"It is trying to find its way out of a loop. It fell and will keep falling." Jesselle said weakly. She groaned as Olim and the Trinity started to laugh. "Hey! I was in a rush."

"Möbius loops..." Trinity said with a snort. "Got to love infinite repeatability."

"As long as you are not _stuck_ in them." Olim said with a grunt. "Jesselle... we could use your help. Humanity as whole could use your help. But _you_ have to choose. Here and now. We have an opportunity to do something that will make a difference. But it will hurt. A lot."

"But..." Jesselle slumped a bit. "Iriana, Shelia... all of the others on the Relay... they are in danger."

"No, they are not." Olim reassured her. "The only one in danger is _you_. And if you choose option three... It is going to get worse."

"Why?" Jesselle asked carefully.

"Because the first step is betraying us to the Grineer."

* * *

**The Relay**

Jesselle came awake screaming. Every nerve in her body was on fire.

"Jesselle, Jesselle, easy, girl." Iriana's voice was close at hand. Something brushed Jesselle's forehead and the pain tore through her again. "It's okay. It is okay. We got it out. It's okay, Jesselle."

"No it's not." Jesselle said weakly. "It's...still here. Not the kid's fault..." She said as she tried to move and groaned. "Can't... Got to..."

"You need to _sleep_." Iriana's voice turned stern and something hissed nearby, but Jesselle was ready. She let her rhythms slow even as she countered the drug. It was amazing. She could...feel every nerve. Every synapse. She could feel every muscle and nerve. She could count every neuron in her brain. But she did not have time. She focused her senses as Olim had shown her and insinuated a bit of herself into the table monitors to show herself falling asleep. She eased her consciousness into the surveillance systems and none of them so much as blipped. She... "Oh, you _crazy_ girl..." Iriana was crying now.

"I can do it." Jesselle said, opening her eyes. Iriana sat beside her bed, her eyes red. "I am not being stupid now, Iriana. I can do it. You got the organic matrix out." This was not a question. "The telepathy will fade, given time."

"You know they will hunt you, Jesselle." Iriana said sadly. "The Grineer will do what they do. The Tenno... They _have_ to. Karl in particular will hunt you as fiercely as he can."

"I know." Jesselle said sadly. "He has to. To keep up the pretense long enough. The backup plan will activate in six minutes, Iriana. Get out of here. Please!"

"You..." Iriana bent close and kissed Jesselle's brow. "Come back to us, girl." She shook her head, rose and was gone.

Jesselle waited a moment before rising. She wore a patient gown and her head had bandages on it. She sighed and strode to the door. It was locked, but opened to her touch of code. Outside, the corridors were empty and she strode to the door she knew led to the kid's cell. Again, the locks posed no difficulty. N-1 and the other boy, she knew now he was Z-1, looked up and froze as she stepped in.

"Miss Jesselle?" N-1 asked cautiously. She knelt and shook her head. "What...?"

"You will hate me." Jesselle said softly. "And I deserve it. But I will not let them take you again." N-1 stared at her. "You will hear many things about me, most true. I wish... I wish I could be the momma you need."

"Miss Jesselle..." N-1 said slowly as M-1 sat up on the bed, her eyes going huge. "What is going on?"

"It is not your fault." Jesselle said softly. "It never _was_. They will interrogate you, but they will be kind. Know that no matter what, I _do_ love you." She slumped a bit as M-1 started to cry, not understanding the sudden emotions. "Good luck, kids." She was on her feet and standing between the children and the golden portal as it opened and a pair of armored Grineer jumped through. "You _**idiots**_!" She snapped and both of them froze as power washed over them from her. "You just blew my _**cover**_!"

"Miss Jesselle!" N-1 was on his feet, his eyes huge as Jesselle moved to stand by the Grineer who looked confused. "What?"

"We have at _most_ five seconds before this room _incinerates_ or a team of _Tenno_ come barging in!" Jesselle screamed at the Grineer. "Get me _out of here_, you stupid _male_!" She snapped off a code and both Grineer froze. "_Now, damn it!_"

"Come!" The Grineer on the left grabbed hold of Jesselle's arm as the door burst in and a pair of Tenno entered. The Frost Prime fired his pistol. Jesselle staggered, staring down at... the red on her stomach. Then the world washed golden.

"_Momma!_" M-1's impassioned scream was the last thing Jesselle heard for some time.

* * *

**The kids' room  
**

"Not their fault." Olim holstered his Lato as he moved between the furious Rhino and the three kids who lay on the floor. None dared to move. "Karl, it is not their fault."

"How long have you known?" Karl demanded.

"About them?" Olim jerked his head to where the kids lay. "Eighteen hours. About the doctor trying to get an agent into the hospital? About twelve." Karl snarled at him and Olim sighed. "Karl, it had to be done. He was going to try. The kids are clean now."

"And Jesselle?" Karl demanded. The door behind him opened and Iriana bustled in. The Healer made a beeline to where M-1 sat on the bed, sobbing. She folded the crying girl into her arms and beckoned to the two boys who stepped to her and then returned the embrace when she pulled them close.

"Get. Out." Iriana snapped at Karl who stared at her and then bowed and left the room, Olim on his heels. Just outside, a medical MOA was all but dancing in worry. Olim nodded to Sheila.

"Take care of them." Olim said heavily. "The controls are deep, and not complete in any of them. It took all three of them to put the command line in Jesselle. They are disabled now."

"What the hell?" Karl demanded as Sheila bobbed and entered the room. "What have you done, Olim?"

"What I had to, Karl." Olim said heavily. "I did what I had to. She is alive. They won't kill her. Not now."

"Why did you aim for her gut?" Karl demanded. "A head shot would have left them nothing to salvage. To torture."

"I can't say everything, Karl." Olim said softly. "The bullet was a tracker. We have a partial trace. We will need to find more."

"Have you lost your _bloody_ mind?" Karl snapped. "You let them take her. You blocked my shot! We have to kill her now!"

"I know." Olim said sadly. "I know."

"Then tell me why!" Karl demanded. "Why not end her misery? You know what they will do to her!"

"They won't _hurt_ her, Karl." Olim said softly. "They won't _dare_."

"What do you mean 'They won't _dare'_?" Karl snapped, patience fled. "They are _Grineer_! They _kill_ humans!"

"Because the queens wanted her, Karl." Olim said softly. Karl froze in place and Olim nodded. "They wanted her before Tengus lost her and they want her now. As soon as the Grineer realize exactly what they have, they will treat her very, very gently. Very carefully. Very un-Grineer."

"And what _do_ they have, Olim?" Karl asked, his tone frigid.

"The key to Orokin." Olim said sadly. "She is the key to Orokin. Or so they believe."

**Titan**

Far, far across the Solar System, Janet woke. Her eyes were burning.

"My girl..." She sobbed. "My poor _brave_ girl..."

"Oracle?" Juliet V-54 asked from her seat by the pool Janet was lying in. "What is wrong?"

"It has begun." Janet said as the fear and anger left her. She felt... empty now. "Jesselle is out of our reach. Out of everyone's. She is on her own."

"Your daughter is resourceful, Oracle." Juliet reassured her. "She will find..." She trailed off as Janet's puffy eyes met hers. "Oracle?" She asked, tentative as Oracle sighed.

"When they are done with her, she won't _be_ my daughter. I should have known." Janet said sadly. "I should have _seen_..."

"You are too close, Janet." Nikis' voice preceded the Tenno into the Oracle's resting chamber. "Your visions of her will be unpredictable. Dangerously so."

"I know." Janet said weakly. "Nikis..." She begged. "She is my _daughter_! What can I do?"

"Trust her." Nikis said as he knelt and took her hand in a gentle grip. "She is not foolish no matter how she acts. She knows what she is doing and she is not alone."

"They... they..." Janet sobbed as he held her hand. "They will make her Grineer!"

"No." Nikis said softly. "They won't."

"But they are going to try _real_ hard."


	12. Chapter 12

**From frying pan into fire**

Jesselle was terrified but hid it as well as she could. Her body was walking beside the two Grineer marines who had grabbed her. Both had hands on her arms but... it was odd. Neither of them had hurt her. It was... more as if they were supporting her now that her gut felt like it was on fire. Other Grineer stared as they passed, red falling as she walked, but she was busy.

_How long?_ Jesselle asked as she wove a complicated structure around her inner being. _I mean... a human only has so much blood in her body. If I bleed out, it does no one any good._

_If you fall, they will carry you._ The Trinity said quietly from the deepest recesses of the girl's mind. _The wound will not kill you quickly. That is it, Jesselle. _ The other said quietly as Jesselle finished up. _Done._

_Are you sure?" _Jesselle asked, poking the odd thing with a mental finger. _I have never done anything like this._

_I am sure. _The other said quietly and then something suffused Jesselle's mind. It felt... like an embrace. She relaxed a little. She wasn't alone. _Your innermost thoughts are your own. Not even a telepath can access them now. The Grineer have no chance, no matter how hard they try._

_I should have asked before... _Jesselle said, a bit timid. _What do I call you?_

_Call me Trinity. _The other said with a gentle laugh. _Relax Jesselle. I know this is hard. Harder than anything you have done. But it will make a difference._

_I don't know if relaxing is going to be possible. _Jesselle said as her body was led into a larger, brighter room. It was laid out as a medical ward. A dozen unarmored female forms surrounded a Grineer in odd looking armor who scrutinized Jesselle as she was led in front of him.

"What is..._this_?" The voice was familiar. The doctor. To her amazement, Jesselle felt her fear fade a bit as she answered. All around, the unarmored females attention was absolute. More than a bit unnerving.

"The plan failed." Jesselle kept her voice level. "The controls were discovered and neutralized. The Tenno did not take this agent to the hospital. This agent was discovered and extracted with vital information."

"What information?" Doctor Tengus sounded bored now, his eyes roved away from the bleeding human in front of him.

"Unable to state." Jesselle kept her calm. It was hard. "Higher authorization needed."

"Higher than _mine_?" Doctor Tengus demanded. Jesselle did not move and the clones holding her tightened their grip. "Explain!" The doctor commanded.

"Unauthorized persons present. Unable to state." Jesselle said firmly. "This body is failing. Vital information within. Request download." Doctor Tengus shrugged and nodded to a table nearby. Jesselle jerked her arms from the Marines and strode to the table. All of the Grineer stared as she lay down on it. "Hail the Queens." Jesselle stated as she lay back.

Darkness roared up within Jesselle as pain flared in her abdomen. Terror followed it, but she kept it at bay. Machinery swung down around her skull and she remained still as she was restrained.

_I have you, girl._ Trinity promised. _We have you. Go with..._

Then the machinery activated.

* * *

**An indeterminate time later**

"What is the _meaning_ of this?" The furious voices were not -quite- screaming as she woke. She felt... optimal. Readouts scrolled across her prosthetic eye's display, showing her systems fully functional. Both of her prosthetic legs were operating in proper parameters. "Who authorized changing the subject?"

"My queens..." For the first time, Doctor Tengus sounded less than totally assured. "It is a _base_!"

"It is a _key!_" The two voices screamed as one. "A key you have _broken!_ First the Grustag 3, then the Infested and now _this_? Our patience was _not_ infinite, doctor." Now the voices turned cold. "Reclaimers. Tend the doctor until we return. Keep him alive, but make it hurt." A scream tore from the doctor's throat and the queens laughed, it was menacing, that laugh. "Oh, don't worry, doctor. We will return... in a week or so. Bring her."

Jesselle felt herself lifted and then laid on something that yielded underneath her. The screams continued behind her, mixed with female chuckles and other gleeful sounds.

"Can you hear us?" The voices were close at hand now as Jesselle felt movement. Jesselle tried to speak and found it hard. She forced words out.

"I...obey... my queens..." Jesselle managed. "I...serve..."

"Indeed you do." The voices were thoughtful now. "If anyone had said a base would show us the way, we would have laughed. But now? You are not a base." They paused. "Commander De Thaym, find the _rest_ of her. The doctor took bits. _Find_ them. We will need them to repair what he did or to clone."

"At once, my Queens." A harsh female voice sounded from nearby and then a clang.

"Leave _some_ of the facility intact, Kayla." One of what had to be one of the Grineer queens said with a menacing laugh. "We still need it."

"As you wish." Disappointment sounded in the other's tone, but was squelched.

"Everyone else who was present heard things they should not have and are thus expendable." The other queen sounded angry still. "Have fun."

"Thank you, my queens!" The Commander said with glee and Jesselle jerked as a weapon started firing. "I will."

"She will tear the place apart, my queens." Another voice sounded from close at hand. Another female. Not angry, clinical. Jesselle fought back a shiver. It was the Reclaimer from the lab. The one who had wanted Jesselle's body! "This one?"

"No, you cannot have her, Reclaimer H-124387654." The queens replied in unison. Jesselle wasn't sure, but it kind of sounded like their voices were being projected somehow? There was no physical presence. "You were right to notify us as soon as the information was shown, but this one is far more important than even she realizes."

"As you wish, my queens." The Reclaimer said calmly.

"We will get you _two_ pretty toys as a reward to do with as you will, Reclaimer H-124387654." The queens replied as whatever was holding Jesselle moved again. "For now? We need to see if we can rebuild the key as she was."

"My...queens..." Jesselle fought to get the words out. "I serve..."

"Indeed you do. Reclaimer H-124387654, sedate her." The queens' voices commanded and something hummed. Jesselle felt her awareness start to fade. It did not totally. She could hear and feel.

"Your designation is now J-345987." The queens said softly. "And you are Grineer."

"Not... enough..." Jesselle said weakly. "Still... impure..."

"That will change." The others said in unison. The hum increased and Jesselle was floating.

"Orders?" The Reclaimer asked.

"Take her to Secure Facility Four." The Grineer queens commanded. "They can repair her or rebuild her there. She served. All that effort to make her a telepath and it failed, but she did not." The voices paused. "She is still awake. Strong."

"She will make a fine Grineer. 'The Reclaimer said with a sound of mixed exasperation and admiration. Then Jesselle faded.

**Avalon**

"What the hell happened?" Eliza was way beyond angry. Olim stood in front of her in formal robes, his face as impassive as his closed warframe faceplate might have been. "What did you do?"

"We believe the Grineer have rebuilt an access node that leads to the Orokin network. And the main database." Olim said softly. Eliza froze and Olim nodded. All of the others in the room froze with Eliza. If the Grineer managed to access the myriad shades of the Orokin database... Bad did not _begin_ to cover that. Not even _close_. The sheer power that dwelt in that odd virtual environment boggled the mind. The Cyberlancer nodded. "Needless to say, this is _not_ something we wanted broadcast."

"And how does Oracle's _daughter_ factor into this?" Nikis demanded of the Cyberlancer. The Frost Prime met his gaze calmly, no one else dared to breathe. "What right did you have to involve her?"

"_Right_?" Olim queried. "I _had_ no right to involve her. She involved _herself_. We gave her the option to back out. She chose otherwise."

"Who is 'we'?" Nikis demanded.

"Nikis..." Olim said heavily. "You have your role, I have mine. They overlap occasionally, but do not tell me that Jesselle could have done it alone." Nikis growled but Olim did not retreat. "Trinity went with her."

"_What?_" The word erupted from several throats. Nikis stared at the Cyberlancer and then slowly relaxed.

"We have to find and disable that interface conduit." Olim said sternly. "If they enter the database..."

"They will be obliterated." Michelle was pale and who could blame her? "The sheer power will vaporize any clone dumb enough... to..." She trailed off as Olim bowed his head. "No..." She breathed. "Oh god no... you _didn't!_"

"We had no choice." Olim said sadly. "We told her the risks. We offered her a way out. She chose to help. She is good. Not a warrior, but good."

"What else?" Karl demanded. "You haven't told us everything."

"No, I haven't." Olim said softly, but his gaze was on Nikis who hadn't moved. "I can't. You need to hunt for her, Karl. They will become suspicious if Tenno do not hunt for her. If you find her... shoot to kill."

"You want us to _kill_ Oracle's daughter?" Karl sounded stunned now.

"You won't." Olim said softly.

"Why?" Eliza said into the silence that fell. "Why hunt her? Why try to kill her if we cannot?"

"The Grineer will attempt to alter her. Mentally and physically." Olim said quietly. "They will fail. Eventually, they will realize that she can be used as key to their conduit." He was still staring at Nikis. "Which is what the kids were for, wasn't it?"

"According to what we found... Tengus was ordered to keep them healthy." Nikis said with a snap. "The girls... some were for the attempt to control Infested... Others were for a special project. A royal project."

"Royal?" Michelle staggered a bit. "The Grineer _queens_ are directly involved?"

"No." Olim said with a sigh. "They are not. Not directly. Their project is run in sections. We do not know which one Jesselle was taken to. Which is why we need to hunt."

"And you want whoever finds her to shoot her...because...?" Eliza prompted.

"It won't kill her." Olim said softly. "And even if it does destroy her body? Trinity won't let her go." Nikis straightened and Olim nodded. "You of all people should know better than to anger her, Nikis. She has all kinds of ways to make people's lives hell. She touched Jesselle when the girl went to the database and she knew instantly. She contacted me."

"You overstep." Nikis' voice held warning.

"Do I?" Olim said softly. "Do I _really_?" The tension in the room skyrocketed as Nikis laid his hands on his pistols and Olim on his Dual Kama. "I could say the same for _you_." The Frost Prime said with a snarl that matched Nikis' best.

"Um... Olim...?" Karl asked as he moved to out from in between the two. "What are you doing?" More than one of the Royal Guard had hands on weapons but no one wanted to start anything.

"Will _you_ tell them or shall _I_?" Olim demanded. Nikis... sighed and dropped his hands from his pistols.

"Jesselle stepped into the database." Nikis said quietly. "Physically. There was no way a human could do that." Olim made a coughing noise and Nikis snarled half heartedly. "All right, all right... yes. I admit it. I realized as soon as they told me she had gone."

"And?" Eliza asked when no one else spoke.

"There is only one type of person who can do that." Olim said with a nod as he released his grip on his own weapons. "The kind I am."

At that, _everything_ stopped. Nikis... slumped a bit. Karl and the Royal Guard all stared from Olim to Nikis and back. No one seemed able to speak after that bombshell. Finally Eliza broke the silence.

"Are you _saying_..." Eliza said carefully. "That Janet's daughter _Jesselle_...a girl who is _pure human_..." She trailed off as Olim nodded. Eliza paled. "She _can't_ be a Cyberlancer. She is not Tenno."

"Yet." Olim's tone mixed pride and sadness. "But she chose to attempt the Trials."

"_Are you out of your fucking mind?_" The room nearly exploded with many people saying the same thing. Nikis... bowed his head and stepped away from the group.

"Nikis?" Karl asked when the room went quiet.

"Not everyone remembers, but I do." Nikis said softly. "We all came from humans. The potential is there in all humans. Janet... didn't say or couldn't say. She just said her daughter was no more. I assumed the Grineer did it." He said with a snarl directed at Olim who shrugged.

"They will hurt her. Change her. Try to program her." Olim agreed. "But... they will also keep her healthy and whole as best they can. They will need her healthy and whole to access the conduit. Grineer prosthetics will not react well to the energy of the transfer."

"Which is why they were programming the kids." Eliza said softly and Olim nodded.

"Tell me something, Empress." Olim said quietly. "What is the single overriding compulsion built into every single Orokin AI?" Eliza stared at the Cyberlancer and he shook his head. "They all have the same core program built in. What is the _one_ thing they _cannot_ do?"

"I..." Eliza swallowed hard. "No... No... You can't be saying..." She broke off as a hologram appeared beside Olim. His AI sister Riana's face was half metal, half sad. Her holographic flesh and blood eye was dripping tears. "Riana?"

"We cannot harm innocents to save ourselves." The AI that was Olim's partner said softly. "We cannot harm a child to save ourselves. It was decided that if there had to be a single overriding compulsion in each and every Orokin AI, it would have to be that. Not some drek like Isaac Asimov's 'Three Laws of Robotics', but something."

"So the kids..." Eliza said slowly.

"Part of their programming was from when they were in the pods." Nikis sounded old and tired now. "Nicholas planned to access the database himself. Hence the kids. He never got the chance. But when the Grineer found the pods... They realized they had a chance at power beyond their wildest dreams. Orokin itself."

"And the rest was done to the girls, Jesselle included." Olim said with a sigh. "Programmed to obey. To do as instructed. To follow the orders of the Grineer."

"To _access_... Orokin." Eliza said softly. Olim, Riana and Nikis all nodded. Eliza slumped. "Oh _shit_..."

"You said it."

* * *

**Outside of reality**

She wasn't afraid now. She felt... good. It was.. odd. But she felt good. And she had company.

_I do not understand, Trinity._ Jesselle said after a moment of thought. _The whole concept of 'nothing' is that there is __**nothing**__, yes? So if you focus on something that isn't there... how can __**that**__ be enlightened?_

_Ah, Jesselle... _The ancient Tenno chuckled. _People have been debating that ever since the first Buddha. I do not think I can explain any clearer than I have. You just have to see for yourself. It will take time, but you will get it eventually. But that is not what is bothering you, is it?_

_I am not a Warrior. _Jesselle said after a moment. _I do not want to be a Warrior. So...where does that leave me?_

_There are other paths._ Trinity said with a sigh. _Many. Sara is studying the Way of the Technician. Mishka is studying the Way of the Bard. You can find a Way that suits you or pick your own path._

It was very odd, this limbo like place she was stuck in. Every so often, Jesselle extruded a tendril of code beyond the spherical construction that held her mind and found her body being worked on. Trinity did not comment, but the Tenno watched very closely. The Tenno shade was a guardian that Jesselle appreciated a great deal.

_This is needed._ Jesselle said quietly as she retracted the tendril she had poked out again. _But it is wrong. I think they are nearly done with my body. Then they start the mental programming?_

_We think so. _Trinity said softly. _I will help you ward, Jesselle. But you have to stand firm. It is going to hurt._ She warned.

_Birth is traumatic._ Jesselle said weakly. _I... I trained as a med tech, but I never... liked it, you know?_

_I know, honey. _Trinity said gently as something wrapped around Jesselle's mind offering comfort that she accepted gratefully. _The Grineer have an inkling of what they are doing, but no more. As soon as you cross the threshold, you will be tested._

_I know. _Jesselle's voice firmed. _I am just scared._

_You have a right to fear, Jesselle. _Trinity said gently. _What you are doing is not __**smart**__. It isn't even __**sane**__ by most people's standards. But it is needed and you are very brave._

_I do not feel brave. _Jesselle said weakly. _I feel terrified._

_I know. _Trinity's embrace was gentle again. _But you are not alone. Here or in the conduit, you are not alone._

_Is being so scared normal? _Jesselle asked after a moment.

_Oh yes._ Trinity's voice was reflective now. _Without fear, would we know what __**courage**__ was?_ Jesselle made noise of understanding and Trinity continued. _And if we had no emotions whatsoever, we would just be robots. We are not. Human or Tenno, we are very alike._

_And very different. _Jesselle said with a gulp. _I um... I think they are almost done. They will be waking me soon. Should I... cut my impulses?_

_I want to say, 'Yes', Jesselle. _Trinity said sadly. _But if you do not scream they will wonder why. They will search. They will not find anything, but they will be suspicious._

_I..._ Jesselle jerked as pressure mounted on her mind. _I... it is starting. I... Help?_ She begged.

_I am here, Jesselle._ Trinity said as the pressure increased. _Hold to me._

Jesselle did as instructed, grabbing hold of Trinity and hanging on for dear life as the pressure became a raging torrent that swept her into its grip and away. Suddenly, she could see. And feel. She screamed as pain flared in both of her legs and her eye. She was inside of something. Some kind of mechanical pod filled with green. And she was being squeezed out of it. Then she was falling. She landed on her rump and gave another scream as pain flared again in her legs. Everything worked, it just all hurt. Everything was too bright, too cold, too... everything.

"Welcome, daughter." The female Grineer voices that sounded from nearby were familiar. The Queens. Jesselle was alone in the room as the machinery that had surrounded her retracted. "Your designation is J-345987 and this is your first day."

"I serve." The newest female Grineer said with a smile as she sat up. Then she knelt.

"Command me, my queens."


	13. Chapter 13

**Fear**

Jesselle had thought she knew what fear was. She hadn't really had a clue. Even Trinity's support was barely enough to keep her going as her body did things without her in control.

_You knew what they would do, Jesselle._ Trinity chided the girl gently. It was more too distract her from what was happening that to actually complain, Jesselle knew. _The fact that they managed to undo what the doctor did is... impressive._

Her legs had been reattached. The mechanical eye that had been implanted had also been replaced with a flesh and blood one. Every scan Jesselle had done showed she was fully human again, if not quite recovered from the repairs.

_Yes. _Jesselle replied uneasily. She could only watch as her body worked on a slumbering human boy. _Trinity... is there any chance... for these?_ She begged.

For several moments, the Tenno spirit did not reply and Jesselle slumped a bit. Mentally of course. Her body was doing as its mistresses had commanded.

_I don't know, Jesselle._ Trinity said after a moment. _They haven't been altered physically... but..._

_I know._

When Jesselle's body had woken, she and Trinity had been shocked to find human children in the middle of a secure Grineer facility. Neither of them had any way of knowing where said facility was. The plan was for Tenno to hunt Jesselle, force the Grineer to accelerate their plans. But apparently, the Grineer had been working in secret for quite some time. This... hadn't been part of the plan Jesselle had helped craft. There were four children, two males and two females. All very young. Jesselle could not be sure, but she figured none were over the age of five. They were not the kids she had met in the doctor's lab. There were no records of where they had come from, and Jesselle feared the worst. Especially when the kids were awake.

"J-345987?" The boy who lay in a bed nearby asked calmly, his eyes on a screen that showed swirling colors. "Are we within parameters?"

"Yes." Jesselle did not try to keep herself from talking. It wouldn't work and would arouse suspicion. She was delegated to tending the children. "Everything is green. You are on downtime, K-432. You should be asleep."

"I cannot." The boy replied softly.

"Why not?" Jesselle asked as she finished up with the boy she had been tending and turned to the other. A quick check showed the girls still slumbered. "Is something wrong?"

"Unknown." K-432 said quietly. "The images are unclear. They are unsettling."

"Images?" Jesselle asked as she moved to the boy's bedside. "Of what?"

"I..." The boy slumped a bit on his bed. "I do not know." His words rang false to Jesselle's ears and she forced herself to remain calm as her body sat on the bed beside him and took his hand in hers.

"What do you see in your dreams?" The controlled part of Jesselle's mind asked him quietly, her tone touching the subconscious commands that had been implanted in his mind. He could not disobey. It simply wasn't possible for him.

"I see a man and a woman." K-432 said quietly. "They are reaching for me and screaming. They... The Masters are there and... There are loud noises. The man and woman fall down and are still." Jesselle felt Trinity go still inside her mind and Jesselle shared the Tenno's shock and fear.

"I see." Jesselle felt her body react and forced herself to stay calm as it reached for a hypo. "You will sleep now. There will be no dreams."

Jesselle was crying inside as her other self put the boy to sleep and then adjusted a device that hung over his bed. Energy played from it over his face and he relaxed as it soothed him. Admittedly, it did so by destroying certain parts of his memory. Trinity embraced her again.

"Done." Jesselle's other self reported. "K-432 is still relapsing. I have initiated a further wipe."

"Very good, J-345987." The modulated voice was not any Grineer that Jesselle knew. It was female, but no one she had met. "Your downtime."

"As commanded." Jesselle's body moved to an adult sized bed against one wall and laid down. Her eyes closed and Jesselle could feel her rhythms slow.

_I don't know how much more of this I can take, Trinity._ Jesselle said weakly as her body fell into slumber. _Just... watching.. I... I knew... but..._

_But this is worse than we imagined. _Trinity agreed. _We figured they would have to use you. But... they had contingency plans._

_None of these kids are strong enough to survive it. _Jesselle said sadly.

_No._ Trinity agreed. _We can only hope that whoever gets to us is quick. But..._ Jesselle made a noise of worry and Trinity sighed. _Jesselle, we cannot save them. You know it._

_The damage is permanent. _Jesselle agreed. _And the drugs... I..._

_Jesselle. _Trinity said softly._ It is not your fault. I will do it._

_No. _Jesselle said just as quietly. _Without the drugs the Grineer have addicted them to, they will die quickly, in great pain. It was done before I got here, but... I feel... I mean... _She groaned. _I am protected. They are not. And... having to continue dosing them... Trinity... I... I feel wrong doing it. And then the memory wiping..._

_I know. _Trinity said sadly. _Jesselle, this is my calling. I was a Healer as well as a Cyberlancer. This is what I __**do**__. __**Heal**__ when I can. __**Repair**__ when I can. __**Ease**__ when I __**must**__._

_I... I couldn't... _Jesselle gagged a bit at that and Trinity made noise of agreement. Again, the gentle embrace surrounded Jesselle's mind and she relaxed into it.

_We may not have to._ Trinity said softly. _You saw the other apparatus._ Jesselle stiffened but then made a soft mental noise of dismay. _The Grineer do not want the kids taken from them._

_They have the whole room set up to self destruct. _Jesselle had very carefully scouted the area with very surreptitious packets of code. What she had found had been horrifying in the extreme. The room was a secure lab, with no access to outside networks. Each of the children's beds was also set up with a high plasma projection system. Short range, but very powerful. Nothing would be left to save or study. _But not my bed..._

_They are expendable to the Grineer. _Trinity's voice might have been clinical, if not for the sorrow that underlay her tone. _You are not._

_Okay... _Jesselle sighed and focused. _Back to training? I still don't know if I can do this, Trinity._

_You are taking counsel of your fears, Jesselle. _Trinity said gently._ Either you pass or you do not. If you do not, you will not die. Very few of the Trials were mortal and those were when people tried them unprepared or against advice._

_Okay... _Jesselle focused her mind as she had been taught. A hallway appeared in her mind's eye and she lit the lamps in it. _Ready._

_Good. _Trinity said as She and Jesselle appeared in the hallway. The Trinity Prime warframe knelt into seiza and Jesselle did as well. "Next lesson, photonic energy. Light is both particle _and_ wave. It depends on which way you measure it..."

Jesselle nodded as she listened. She had always loved to learn and now? She had nothing else to do but wait. Well... Wait and hope that whichever Tenno found her did enough damage to force the Grineer to advance their plans and not enough to kill her. A little fear was understandable.

* * *

**Not so far away**

It was uncomfortable. It defined the word 'unpleasant'. It also was not something he was going to delegate. Other members of his clan were better at sneaking than he was. Serene and Aeron were downright _scary_ at how they could simply _vanish_ from plain sight even without using Invisibility. Both had the patience of rocks and the knowledge honed by decades of practice at getting into -and out of - places unseen. Warframes gave them options that ordinary humans, Infested or Grineer could not match.

Karl ordinarily preferred a much more direct approach. Oh, he _could_ sneak. He had gotten good at it over time. One either got good at something like that or one died. Even Tenno. He had gotten good. The circumstances that had forced him to hunt and kill his brother and the clan who had followed his brother had forced him to get far, far better at a number of things than he had ever imagined possible.

Many Tenno who used Rhino warframes seemed to be utterly incapable of being subtle, but Karl knew that was not true. They had certain advantages, so it simply made sense for them to use said advantages. Iron Skin in particular was a great equalizer for situations in which mobs of enemies attacked as one. Stomp was another. But both had their downsides. Iron Skin hindered his mobility a little. Not a lot, but some. And Stomp was _anything_ but subtle.

So here he was, creeping through the ductwork of a massive Grineer base on Luna, Iron Skin deactivated and his preferred shotgun back in his ship. Instead of his Hek, he carried a Latron Prime rifle. Single shot. Heavy damage. Suppressed. His backup Kunai hung ready in their thigh holsters. But it was the _other_ weapon that really, really bothered him. He did _not_ like Grineer weapons. They were like the Grineer. Ugly, smelly, nasty. Brutally effective, to be sure, but not elegant. It was a foible, he knew. A weapon was a weapon. The Atterax whip _was_ an effective weapon. Even with the saw blades deactivated, it made a _very_ effective garrote, as several isolated Grineer had found out to their cost.

None of the isolated patrols had even been able to scream an alarm as they had been choked from behind. The wire whip was thin enough that in the hands of the Rhino, it made short work of Grineer neck armor. He was...

Karl paused as an icon appeared on his HUD. He was close. He could detect his target now. She was close. He hated this, but he hadn't been abut to order any other members of his clan to do it either. Sneaking into a Grineer facility was nothing new. But what he had to do here...

The hidden Tenno made his way to a vent in the floor and peered down. Nothing showed, but he was no mollified. This part of the facility had incredibly tight security. Even the ducts were patrolled by hovering versions of the Grineer propaganda drones called 'Regulators'. His onboard systems had warned him of approaching enemies though and he had either killed them silently or kept hidden and let them pass. He preferred to kill them, but too many vanishing at once was a big red 'Hey! Tenno here!' sign even to stupid clones. So on entry, he had ghosted past the security. They had no idea he was here.

That was about to change.

He slid a tiny wire through the vent grill and twisted it around. The minuscule camera on the end gave his warframe a view of the surrounding area with an incredibly low chance of being discovered, since it had no external power signature and was tiny. No cameras. Grineer generally did not go for technological solutions to problems. Not when they had far, far more clones than tech. Occasionally, they did. And they had other means of keeping things secure.

Karl noted the two Grineer Heavy Gunners who stood guard at the door behind which the icon of his target shone. The door was locked of course. He shook his head minutely. Ordinarily, two Heavy Gunners were no problem at all. Iron Skin, charge them, get close and beat the crap out of them. But this... He had to get past them. Preferably _without_ them sounding an alarm. Then he saw it. Another vent grill. On the floor level. And sort of out of their line of sight.

Karl smiled under his helmet as he laid a small device on the grill in front of him and retracted the camera. He moved off again, seeking the other access point.

He found the other access point in seconds and extruded the camera again. The Grineer had not moved. He was not -quite- out of their line of sight, but he was in the shadows of the duct and his warframe's built in ECM would render him impervious to anything but a direct visual identification. Once that was done however, he would be visible to everyone and everything in the facility. He slowly and carefully undid the bolts holding the vent cover in front of him in place and made himself ready.

His smile turned grim as he keyed a command and the tiny device he had left on the other grill activated to a creaking noise of metal. Both Grineer guards jerked. But there was nothing there. He could feel their confusion. This was not something that had been covered by the Grineer training. Female Grineer were far better trained than males. They were rarer and generally higher rank as a result. But this was nothing that they could have been trained for. If an enemy had burst out of the duct, they would have known what to do. But odd noises coming from the duct? And the vent grill now sagging as a tiny magnetic field from the device pulled one edge of it away from the wall?

He watched as the two guards trained weapons on the duct. Both nothing else happened. He had to admire their training. Neither spoke. One nodded to the duct and the other stepped forward, her Gorgon trained on the duct. Karl was in motion as she stepped forward. A grip on the vent in front of him slid it aside with no noise. If there was any sound, it was masked by the loud clangs of the female Grineer's prosthetic feet as she stepped to the sagging grill, examining it. But Karl's eyes were on the other guard. Her rifle was up and aimed, but at the grill. He angled to the side as he crept towards her, his Atterax out and the wire held in both hands. She never saw a thing as he stepped behind her and with a swift motion, ended her life. Then his hands fell to his sides as the other guard turned back only to pause as she saw her fellow guard fall and the white armored form behind it. She opened her mouth to scream and Karl's Kunai tore through it. No armor there. She gagged both on steel and on blood and he was on her.

There was no honor in such a fight. But the Grineer had proven over and over again that they had no honor. She struggled, but she had no chance.

In moments, Karl laid the silent form at his feet and turned towards the door. He had a minute at best before the guard's life readings vanishing were noted. Any other Grineer facility, they would just be ignored. Not here. This facility was under the direct orders of the queens. He touched the control pad and was not surprised when it beeped at him and refused to accept his commands.

_Be that way..._ He thought grimly as he pulled a tiny device from a hidden pouch. Ciphers to break security encryptions were godsends when speed was of the essence. But this was no ordinary cipher. This one had been built specifically for this task by Olim himself. As soon as it touched the security panel beside the door, the locks clicked open. Then the door. His rifle was in hand and he was through it and...

Karl came to a halt as he saw what lay inside the door. Jesselle was lying on a bed near one wall. But... she wasn't alone. Four other -smaller- beds were occupied. Each had a child in it and each child's face was blank. He shook himself and took careful aim. Jesselle's body jerked and her eyes opened. She stared at him and... smiled. He fired.

_Run!_ The mental voice was female and Karl needed no urging as the room erupted in fire. None of the children even screamed as their bodies -the shells the Grineer had left of them anyway- were destroyed. Jesselle crumpled off the bed, her body falling, but she was still breathing as Karl ran back to the duct.

Alarms were starting to blare and Karl knew that getting out would be far, far harder than getting in had been. And getting in hadn't been easy at _all_. But he had backup standing by in case he went down.

Now if only he had backup for the ache that was resounding deep inside himself. Deep where the conscience he had once had was sobbing. He focused and his focus was anger.

They would pay for this. All of them. The Rhino's anger was a cold hard thing as he ran through the ducts. They would find him, sooner rather than later. He knew that. He accept it. He wanted it. He would make a mess.

It... wouldn't help. Not much. But it would some and he would take anything he could get now.

* * *

**Back in the cell**

Jesselle... hurt. It hurt. She was lying on her side. She could feel warm wetness pooling around herself. But the pain...wasn't physical. The pain was all mental. She made no sound as Grineer Marines pounded through the room pursing the Tenno who had shot her. She made no sound as a Reclaimer bent down and started to tend her roughly.

She was sobbing and Trinity cried with her.

_It isn't fair!_ Jesselle screamed into the hallway in her mind. _They hadn't done anything! He didn't even touch them! They... They just killed them all... I..._

_Go on and cry, Jesselle. _Trinity said as something held her mind in a gentle grip.

"How bad?" The voices of the Grineer queens were beyond angry now. "Guards, find that Tenno and kill it or _suffer_!"

"J-345987 is badly wounded, but alive. My queens." The Reclaimer said after a moment. "The damage is repairable."

"Do so." The queens commanded. "We have to move up the timetable. If a Tenno can get in here, the others can. Commander De Thaym, find who is responsible for the security breach and have them _flayed_."

"Yes, my queens." The response came instantly.

"Get her healed and moved to the access portal." The queens commanded. "Full guard. Let nothing enter the portal except her. J-345987. Your time has come."

"Yes, my queens..." Jesselle managed to croak out. But inside, she was set. Trinity too.

It was time.


	14. Chapter 14

**Righteous**

"...and we will rule!" The queens' voices declared as Jesselle was led into a large room. Their voices were being piped in. They were not present. Her eyes flicked left and right, taking in the many, many troops that surrounded the room. Hundreds of Grineer of all kinds made the huge room seem crowded. No chance of a Tenno getting to her here. "We will usher in a new era. A perfect era! An era of Grineer!"

"Grineer!" The shout was loud enough that Jesselle felt her eyes start to cross, but her own voice joined in the chorus. She had to maintain the illusion. She had to. If her ruse was discovered she would die instantly.

"For too long, the Solar System has been choked by the idiocies of the past!" The queens shouted over the din. "For too long, we have been thwarted."

The two Scorpions at Jesselle's sides and the Reclaimer with them led her forward. She stayed right with them even though every instinct was telling her to bolt. To flee. Even Trinity was subdued. A misstep here would either get Jesselle killed or she would beg for death for a long, long time. So she had to be the perfect Grineer. For just a few more minutes.

Ahead of her, she saw four large golden devices. Trinity's instruction let Jesselle recognize them as torsion beam generators. She had no idea what they torsioned or how, but she knew what they were for. To open a portal somewhere that wasn't supposed to be accessible.

The troops were not just guards for her. She knew that they were also intended to follow her through the portal as soon as she opened it from the other side. But the her that was a slave to the Grineer would not know that. So she turned to her escort and tilted her head in question. The Scorpions did not meet her eyes, but the Reclaimer shrugged.

"Bring forth our chosen!" The queens commanded and the Reclaimer took Jesselle's arm. The girl did not resist as she was led into the center of the room. Several huge armored forms made way for her. The room still as Jesselle knelt without prompting and spoke evenly.

"Command me." Jesselle said into the sudden silence.

"You will enter the portal." The queens said firmly. "You will access the network and deactivate the safeguards. You will open the way for our troops to follow."

"I will do as commanded." Jesselle said firmly. Not that she was actually going to _let_ the Grineer through, but still... Sticking around here was not going to be healthy for her. Sooner or later even Grineer would figure out she wasn't actually their slave. That she was faking. She jerked as the Reclaimer took hold of her arm and injected her with something that burned like fire. She did not react, but inside, she was suddenly tense. So was Trinity.

_Some kind of poison!_ Trinity said quickly. _I can hold it for a bit. But it is powerful. It seems to be a binary. If you get an antidote, you will be fine. If not..._

_I die. _Jesselle felt calm descend on her. She spoke aloud. "I serve the queens."

"Strip her." The queens commanded and Jesselle did not move as the Scorpions stepped forward, blades in hand. In moments, her tough bodysuit fell away, leaving her to shiver in the cold air. "The Orokin fools programmed their AI guardians to feel worry for weak beings. You will be weak. You will be hurt."

Jesselle did not cry out as one of the Scorpions struck her. Then the other. The blows were calculated, careful. No bones were broken, but everything _but_ that was done. She rocked but did not fall as she was beaten. Finally, the pain ended and hands were touching her, checking her vitals.

"She is ready." The Reclaimer said firmly.

"Power the portal." The queens commanded and four Grineer technicians leapt to obey. A hum built from all around as stupendous power systems started pouring energy into the generators. "J-345987. Rise."

Jesselle forced herself to her feet and waited. The pain was... intense. One eye was swollen shut and she could feel blood dripping from places. She stood there, swaying a little as the crowd around her waited in silence. Then with a crack,. A beam of yellow energy arced from one of the generators to a barely visible circle on one wall. In moments, three more beams joined it and all four poured power into the portal.

_Trinity..._ Jesselle said softly. _If I don't make it... Tell mom I love her._

_You will make it, Jesselle. _Trinity said firmly._ I am with you and your shields are strong. It will hurt._

_Birth is always traumatic. _Jesselle said with a mental sigh. _But... thanks._

Everything stopped again as a golden circle of energy appeared on the wall. The portal.

"Go!" The queens commanded and Jesselle started forward. Her body...wasn't working quite right. "And hurry back. If you are not back in twenty minutes, the toxin in your blood will activate and you will die screaming."

_Twenty minutes..._ Trinity's mental voice was soft, she was thinking hard. _From the traces I can detect..._ _It has to be one of three toxins. But..._

_I won't survive, will I? _Jesselle asked as she walked towards the portal. The Grineer made way for her. _Either way?_

_No._ Trinity said heavily. _They don't intend for you to live past opening the portal for them._

_We knew they would betray us. _Jesselle said firmly as she approached the humming portal._ This is just sooner than I expected. You can still save my mind, yes?_

_Yes. _Trinity sounded sad. _But... I had hoped to see you as a sister. Olim needs all the help he can get._

_I am not dead __**yet**__. _Jesselle said firmly as she stepped to the portal. She did not hesitate. She stepped right into it.

It was just like the last time she had taken a portal. But... not. Down was up and up was down again. But...she wasn't as affected by it. It was disconcerting. She felt odd, sick. But it wasn't hurting her. She was-

"Ow!" Jesselle cried out as she landed on her hands and knees on a hard surface. "What the-?"

She stared around and her eyes went huge. She wasn't in an Orokin facility. She was standing on a rocky hill of some kind. Behind her was blackness. Ahead of her a wide pit or chasm stretched out as far as she could see. She jerked back as flame spurted up from the chasm. Then she saw it. A tiny bridge crossed the chasm in front of her. It hadn't been there a moment before. Was that... rope that held wood boards in place as a way to cross?

_Oh you have __**got**__ to be kidding me..._ Trinity sounded somewhere between wonder and disgust. _They __**didn't**__..._

"No kibitzing!" A loud voice sounded from nearby and Jesselle went still as a very old human in what looked like animal furs appeared on the far side of the bridge. His face was lit by wide eyes that spoke of madness and his grin held far too few teeth for him to be healthy. "Whosoever would cross this bridge of Death must answer me these questions _three_, er the other side ye see."

"Huh?" Jesselle demanded. "I..." She shook her head. "Of all the _silly_ access protocols..."

"Come on, girl." The being who looked like human male said with a snort. "At least _try_."

_If you __**hurt**__ her..._ Trinity warned.

"Tenno, _stuff_ thyself." The man said with a snort. "My questions are for Jesselle. Not you."

"How do you know my name?" Jesselle asked softly. The man ignored her and she slumped a bit. "Fine, **what**_ever_..." She said with long suffering sigh. "Ask your questions."

"Do you want to be Tenno?" The old man's voice was suddenly kind. Jesselle froze and he nodded. "You have learned well, girl. But you haven't seen anything that precludes you going back. Yet."

"I..." Jesselle swallowed hard. "I do not want to be Tenno." She admitted. "But... I am needed."

_Jesselle..._ Trinity said softly.

"Trinity, let her answer." The other said softly and Trinity shut up.

"No." Jesselle said sadly, tears starting to fall. "I see what it costs. I... I do not want to be such. I do not. If it is needed, then I will. But... I don't want to."

"You would do what is needed. No matter the cost. So... familiar." The old man said softly. He nodded slowly. "Second question, Jesselle. If you never see your family again... if you never get to talk to them again... What would you say? Right here? Right now?"

"I... I would say 'I am sorry'." Jesselle spoke through her tears. Trinity gave a sob of her own inside Jesselle's mind. "I am so sorry I was stupid. I had to try and save the kids. I had to try and help Olim. The abilities I was given... That I have... There has to be a reason I have them. Any decent person, if given power, will use it responsibly. I... I had to try and help. I had to."

_You did._ Trinity was crying softly now. _You really did, honey._

"Old saying... 'With great power comes great responsibility'." The man said softly. "Cliché and trite in many ways, but true nonetheless. Power confines a person far more than it frees one."

"But having power allows a person to do more than might be possible for someone without power." Jesselle said softly. "Even confined, that power can make wonders or horrors happen that would not be possible otherwise."

"Agreed." The old man said softly. "Last question. Are you ready?" Jesselle took a deep breath and nodded. "What is your favorite color?"

Jesselle stared at him. He had asked it with a perfectly straight face. Trinity...was silent. Jesselle just shook her head.

"And what has _that_ to do with _anything_?" Jesselle demanded crossly.

"It is actually fairly important, Jesselle." The man said as he...morphed. Suddenly, he wasn't old, or shaggy, or dirty. He was... not young, but not old either. He wore a set of armor that wasn't quite like any warframe Jesselle had ever heard of. His head was uncovered and his hair was black. He smiled at her but it was melancholy. "Tenno came from humans. Every last one of us, born Tenno or born human, we all came from humans. We share the same aesthetic criteria. If you choose this... if you go through with it... you will have to make a choice. You do not wish to be a Warrior and I can respect that. But you will need a focus. You will need a way to see yourself. A color for you to focus on. If you go through with this, with the Trial... it _will_ change you. Permanently. There will be no going back. Even if you decide to leave, to go your own way... you will _never_ be able to go back to what you were before."

"I understand." Jesselle said softly. "And in that case... Dark Blue. The dark of Neptune's darkest storms." She closed her eyes and raised her hand. Light danced from her fingertips. It was dark blue. "I choose the Trial." She nodded to the man. "I... do not know you."

"Yes, you do Sister." The man said as he bowed and vanished.

"_Sister_?" Jesselle asked the empty air. _Trinity?_ She asked the mind inside of hers.

_You just met the First, Jesselle._ Trinity said quietly. Jesselle went totally still and Trinity continued. _Hayden was the First of all of us. The First Tenno. If he calls you 'sister', we all will. Pass or fail the Trial, you are a sister. Now and always._

_I...see... _Jesselle said weakly. _I... guess we better get on with it. How long...?_

_This is virtual. _Trinity said with a snort. _It has been milliseconds in the real world. But still far too long... Why he dredged up __**that**__ particular movie... He always did have a sick sense of humor but sheesh..._

_Yeah. _Jesselle crossed the bridge but nothing happened. _I am ready. What do I...?_

_Hold tight to me, sister. _Trinity said gently and Jesselle hugged the mental feeling tight. _This is really going to hurt._

She landed and screamed in pain. Every nerve was on fire, every muscle was pure agony. She was... it was...

-Unauthorized access- The voice was mechanical and loud. It was also close at hand. -Identify!-

"Human designation 'Jesselle'. Unable to completely identify..." Jesselle said weakly. "Protocols not known." She tried to get up and could not.

-Human. Female. Injured.- The mechanical voice sounded unsure now. -Do you require assistance?-

"The access is about to be violated." Jesselle said weakly. "I must...stop them..." A blip of high speed communications sounded and Jesselle worked to fathom it. Whatever the mechanical was, it was asking for instructions from someone.

-You are injured and you have been poisoned.- The mechanical stated firmly. -You require assistance.-

"You cannot save me." Jesselle said weakly. "You must seal the portal. Seal it... and keep it sealed. Please..." She swallowed hard. _Trinity... help?_

_I will try. _The Tenno shade said softly. Another burst of high speed data sounded to Jesselle's senses. Coming from her. Jesselle felt the AI's incredulity and then it's focus. It's rage. Even machines had emotion. Especially Orokin machines.

-They hurt you and seek to access the network through this portal.- The AI sounded upset now.

"Yes." Jesselle tried to roll herself over, but she was too weak. "Save yourselves. Help... seal..."

-Rest, Cyberlancer Jesselle.- The AI said calmly. -It will be handled.-

"But... I am not..." Jesselle felt something warm play over her skull and she fell asleep still protesting.

* * *

-A very brave girl.- The AI said quietly.

_Less than intelligent acting occasionally, but her heart is in the right place._ Trinity said with a snort that turned into a sob. _Can you seal the portal? Jesselle... will not survive long either way. But if they access..._

-They expect her to return.- The AI said with a curt noise of disapproval as mechs lifted Jesselle's unconscious form and carried her to be tended. -Soon.-

_Yes..._ Trinity said slowly. _Why?_

-Sealing it from this side will do little good if they attempt it again with more innocents.- The AI replied. -It needs to be sealed from the other side.-

_Anyone but Jesselle will be shot on sight as soon as they exit._ Trinity protested.

-Oh, I think we can manage a fairly definite closing of the door.- The AI replied with a snort. But then it sobered. -She will not survive what was done to her.-

_She will attempt the Tenno Trials._ Trinity said soberly. _If her body fails before that, I will ward her. If worst comes to worst, I will take her with me. We will not let her pass._

-Understood.- The huge golden mech approached the portal. But then it retreated a step. -Incoming!-

The squad of Grineer had no idea what was happening. None of them had been buffered from the Void energy of the portal. All of them had been handpicked by the queens to follow their patsy. The idea was sound. Send a diversion to draw the attention of any defenses or guardians and then a team of marines to take advantage. All of the Grineer had been selected and trained to do the mission. They were all heavily armed and as well armored as they could be.

It made no difference.

Before any of the clones even realized that they had arrive, the massive golden mech that stood as guardian for the access portal had blocked the only exit.

-Identify- The two legged form had four weapon appendages and all of them were aimed. What happened next was entirely predictable.

"Grineer!" One of the Heavy Gunners screamed as she started firing her Gorgon at the massive golden thing. "Attaq!" The large armor piercing rounds bounced off the machine's carapace like hail off a hot roof.

-Enemy confirmed. Thank you.- The mech said quietly and opened fire as the rest of the Grineer did.

But where the Grineer's fire did no damage -even the rockets and grenades exploded on target with no discernible effect- the _machine's_ fire was clipped and precise. Short, chopped bursts of laser and plasma fire reached out and touched each and every Grineer before most of them could empty a single magazine. And where _their_ bullets simply bounced off, no Grineer armor in _existence_ could repel energy fire of that magnitude.

The massacre was over in seconds. It wasn't a battle. The word 'battle' implies both sides have a chance. The Grineer didn't. If the mech had been distracted, perhaps they would have. Doubtful, but possible. The Orokin had built the guardian mechs for the access points of the database carefully and equipped them with as much state of the art firepower as they could. It hadn't helped against the Sentients most of the time, but against anything less?

In moments, only the mech was left. And the portal which still yawned. The mech paused and the a beam of yellow energy reached out from it to touch the portal which blinked and then altered, just a little. It's polarity had been reversed.

-No respite will we give the wicked. None of us will rest while evil draws breath. The righteous will stand between the darkness and the innocent and none shall pass while we guard.- The mech spoke again, but in a different voice. -Now I am become Death, Destroyer of Worlds.-

A small golden object flew from the mech and into the portal. Then energy played from the mech again, touching the portal and destabilizing it. It winked out and the mech turned away. The object it had fired hadn't been large, but then again...

Tactical nuclear weapons did not _have_ to be large.


	15. Chapter 15

**Passing**

Jesselle was aware first. She felt... detached. She could hear someone screaming and sobbing. It sounded like her voice. But it wasn't.

-Rest now, broken one.- A mechanical voice sounded from nearby. -Rest. No more pain. No more regret. No more evil done to you.-

"The queens commanded!" Jesselle's voice screamed. "I must obey!"

-No- The mechanical voice said heavily. -You must sleep. Your host is waking. You were never more than a construct of the dark ones. You will rest now. Forever.-

"No!" The other voice screamed, but then it trailed off into static.

-We had hoped to be done before you woke, Cyberlancer.- The voice sounded sad. -You need the rest.-

"I am dying." Jesselle said quietly. "Aren't I?" She tried to open her eyes and they would not. "My eyes are damaged?"

-Yes.- The other replied. -Your body is dying. There is nothing we can do to save it. The poison is too virulent.-

"Not your fault." Jesselle said as she tried to move and couldn't. She felt no restraints, she was simply too weak. "Trinity? I..." She swallowed hard. Had she just violated a trust?

-We know of your guest.- The other reassured her. -We have been talking to her. She is most impressed with you, Cyberlancer Jesselle.-

"I... am not a Cyberlancer." Jesselle said softly. She couldn't manage much more. "Not yet."

-She disagrees.- The voice of what had to be an AI was kind. -We do not know Tenno ways. But you are determined to take this path? We can end your life peacefully with no pain. The path you seem determined to walk is filled with pain.-

"They need me." Jesselle felt her eyes start to burn. "I wanted to help. I tried to help."

-You did.- The voice was neither male nor female. It was... odd. But it was also comforting. -The enemy who attempted access is stopped. For now. They will likely try again. But they will take some time to recover. Our guardian is nothing if not thorough.- Was the voice dry now?

"One can hope." Jesselle said with a the ghost of a laugh. It faded. "I... I feel..."

-_What_ do you feel, Cyberlancer Jesselle?- The voice asked her as something stroked her hair. It felt... like metal. But it was comforting.

"I..." Jesselle felt as if she was floating. She weighed nothing at all. "I feel light. Calm. I... I shouldn't be."

-Calm is good.- The voice said quietly. -You have had far too many stresses in a short period of time. You need rest. And you will refuse to take it.- Now the voice sounded sour. -I know your kind well.-

"I am needed." Jesselle protested as strongly as she could. Which wasn't very. She felt... so weak.

-You are needed _whole_ and _sane_.- The other corrected her gently. -You are but a child, by our standards and the Tenno's. You can rest. Heal. You do not need to do the Trial immediately.-

"Yes I do." Jesselle said, her tone firming a little. The other sighed.

-Why do I even _try_ with you meatbags?- The other asked no one in particular. -Go ahead. Tear yourself apart. The universe won't _care_ girl. But some of **us** _will!_-

"I do not mean to upset you." Jesselle said sadly. "I just... I need to do this. I need... to have it done. The Grineer messed with my mind. I may still be a danger, even with the control personality gone."

-They did.- The other said quietly. -We cannot be sure if you are alone in your mind. The Tenno who rides with you... complicates things.-

_I am not leaving her alone._ Trinity's voice was stern. _She needs me and we need her._ The mechanical voice sighed again and Trinity relented a bit. _She is a good kid._

-We will... prepare.- The other said sadly. -For what it is worth, Cyberlancer Jesselle, good luck." The hand brushed her brow again and then was gone.

"I am scared, Trinity." Jesselle admitted softly. "This is... I am not ready. I know I am not."

_Shhh..._ The Tenno shade crooned to the girl quietly. _It is all right, Jesselle. We will not let you die, but it feel very odd._

"Odder than the Void travel?" Jesselle quipped.

_Yes._ Trinity said quietly and Jesselle went still. _The good news is, you can do it. You did it once before._

"I did?" Jesselle wracked her brain but could not remember anything odder than the jaunts through the void.

_You do not remember._ Trinity said gently. _You were __**very**__ sick when you dropped in our laps._

"Huh?" Jesselle stammered. "Oh... I... Oh... I made a mess didn't I?" She asked with a deep sigh.

_Yeah you did._ The Tenno shade said with a small laugh. _But it was worth it. I met you. And now? We can help one another. But Jesselle... You have a chance here. You do not have to choose our way. _

"Trinity..." Jesselle groaned half heartedly. "I made up my mind."

_And until you actually finish the Trial, we will try to get you to change it._ Trinity said firmly. _You do not __**have**__ to be Tenno to be Cyberlancer. It helps. But it __**will**__ cause problems. You will never see your father or brother in the flesh again, more than likely._

"I know." Jesselle said softly. "But I made my goodbyes and Dad... I love him, but..."

_But?_ Trinity pressed when Jesselle did not continue. The girl did not respond and Trinity pressed. _Jesselle? What?_

"He is my dad, but he is not my father." Jesselle said quietly. Trinity sputtered a bit and Jesselle sighed. "I thought you knew."

_No._ Trinity said slowly, stunned. _I didn't. We didn't do any mental scans. No memory scans besides to see if you were a plant. Jesselle..._

"Don't get me wrong, Trinity." Jesselle said quietly. "He is a good man. The best Dad I could have possibly hoped for. But... I am not his biological daughter."

_Oh Jesselle..._ Trinity gave her a mental hug and Jesselle relished the feel. _What happened? Can you...? Do you know?_

"I do. Mom was sent to infiltrate a fairly sleazy Executive's operation." Jesselle said quietly. "What no one knew was that the women in his employ were... slaves. Things to be used for his amusement and for his cronies'. They did not know who she was or what. Just that she was new. They...drugged her and had their way with her. She doesn't remember that. Thank god." Trinity hugged her again. "Her testimony had that executive mindwiped and his cronies sent to penal asteroids, but... when she got back... She was pregnant. With me."

_And the Clergy do not do abortions._ Trinity said quietly._ I see._

"Mom and Dad were in love. When she came back... he courted her, despite everything." Jesselle said with a small, sad smile. "They... they never lied to me about it. When I was old enough, they explained. The Reverend Mother was kind. Everyone was. I just... Zacharias isn't my biological father."

_And you think that matters at all?_ Trinity demanded.

"No." Jesselle said with a sigh. "I know it doesn't. I love them both. They raised me as their daughter and I _am_ their daughter in every way. I cannot stand by and watch if I can do something. Anything."

_Jesselle._ Trinity warned her. _This __**will**__ come up. You harbor deep seated anger for what happened to your mom. Understandable. But the Trial __**will**__ use that. Will poke at old wounds to get them throbbing again. Will open them up if needed and pour salt in them. It is what the Trial __**does**__. You __**will**__ face your fears. Your past. You __**will**__ face everything you hate and more. It is the only way to know exactly who you are. Please Jesselle... stop this. You can._

"I have to do this." Jesselle said weakly. "You told me. I know what I will face." She sniffed and tried to raise a hand to rub her eyes, but it wouldn't move. "Darn it... I..."

-Easy, Cyberlancer.- The other voice was back and something soft rubbed Jesselle's eyes. -Do not struggle. You are very weak. The connections are done.-

"Good, I want this over." Jesselle said with a sigh. "One way or another. I want this over."

-So quick to rush to your fate?- The other sounded nearly in tears. -Child... Please...-

"I have to do this." Jesselle said softly. "I am ready."

-We are not.- The voice sounded in tears. -We were meant to aid humans. To assist them. Not let them die.-

"I understand." Jesselle said sadly. "But I need to do this. Please." She begged. "Let Trinity take me. Dispose... of my body as is best."

-We... will.- The other said quietly. -Here.- A small device was placed under Jesselle's hand. -Push the button and a powerful sedative will be introduced into your body. In your condition, your body will depress to terminal in less than a minute. You will go to sleep. And not wake.-

"I dislike asking you for this." Jesselle said quietly as she fingered the device. "But thank you. Now go. Please. You have been kind. Far kinder than I deserve. Do not watch. Please."

-You are wrong, Cyberlancer Jesselle.- The voice was close now and something cold brushed her cheek. -You deserve _better_. Rest well.-

Jesselle was smiling sadly as she pushed the button. As promised, it did not hurt. Trinity was singing something softly as Jesselle drifted off into a sleep from which there was no return as a human.

* * *

Trinity had been right. The transit was odd. She was... pulled and pushed, stretched and compacted. Nothing hurt, but it felt very odd. Then... it ended. She was aware of arms around her. Of Trinity holding her. Of the Tenno still singing that sad tune. She did not know the words, but the tune was sad. So sad.

"Trinity." Jesselle sighed deeply. "Did it work?"

"Open your eyes." The other said gently. Jesselle did as went still. She was sitting on a human woman's lap. She had dark blonde hair. They were both sitting on a couch in a small room. The woman smiled at her and nodded. "Hello Jesselle." Trinity.

"Is... Is this what you looked like?" Jesselle asked as she reached up slowly to touch the woman's cheek. The older woman nodded. "You were pretty."

"My husband thought so." Trinity said with a sad sigh. "But then I was infected with the Technocyte Virus and my life took a serious turn for the _surreal_." Jesselle did not know what to say to that, so she looked at herself and around. She wore a nondescript grey bodysuit. The room had one door. It had no decorations. The couch was the only furniture.

"Where are we?" Jesselle asked, although she was fairly sure she knew.

"This is a secure database." Trinity said, holding Jesselle in a gentle grip. "All virtual. You have to do this alone, Jesselle. I have prepared you the best I can. But... You have to face the Trial alone."

"I know." Jesselle said with a sigh. "How else will I know myself? Now?" She wasn't -quite- pleading.

"We have time now, Jesselle." Trinity said gently as she held the girl in her lap.

"My body died." Jesselle said with a shudder. Trinity crooned to her and she relaxed. "I knew... it would happen. But... I feel..."

"I know." Trinity said sadly. "You can rest now, Jesselle. Put down your burdens for a time. Rest. You need it."

"Trinity..." Jesselle said weakly as her eyelids started to close. "I need to... I need to do it..."

"Right now, you need rest and ease." Trinity said firmly. "Sleep, Jesselle." Jesselle moaned once and was asleep. Trinity held her and then her voice turned hard. "Show yourself."

"You are weak!" Another Jesselle appeared in the middle of the room, but this one was very different. This one had prosthetic limbs in the place of her legs and half of her face was covered by metal. Grineer. Another aspect of the programming that had been done to Jesselle. "You will fall."

"Perhaps." Trinity said with a shrug. "But _you_ are _stupid_." She held up a hand and golden code surrounded the Grineer form. "We are burning the last traces from Jesselle's mind now. By the time she wakes, she will be free of you."

"She is _weak_!" The Grineer Jesselle said with a snarl as she fought the golden code circling her. But she couldn't seem to touch it and it coiled tighter and tighter around her. "Grineer dominance is inevitable! All will-" Her voice cut off as the code flared around her and she gave a sharp, piercing scream that choked off suddenly. The code... contracted and her form with it until a tiny golden globe was hovering in midair.

"She is stronger than any Grineer ever will be." Trinity said quietly. "But she needs to face you herself to figure that out for herself. My kin..." She said to the empty air. "We are ready." The tiny golden sphere vanished.

"I will tend her and ward her while she sleeps." Another form appeared nearby. Saryn -the First- sat down on the couch and took Jesselle's slumbering form from Trinity. "You have an appointment."

"Fun, fun." Trinity said with sigh as she rose. "The others?"

"Will meet you there." Saryn said as she stroked Jesselle's hair gently. "So young and so strong. She will make a fine sister." Trinity just looked at her and the other shade shrugged. "No, I don't want it either. But you know it as well as I do. She has what it takes and she will not be denied." Trinity slumped.

"I know." Trinity said sadly. "I know."

**Another virtual simulation**

Trinity appeared in the room and nodded to the other woman who stood in the virtual world that had been set up for this meeting. Janet had been crying, but now, she was calmer.

"How is she?" Oracle asked softly.

"She is exhausted." Trinity said with a grunt. "She will sleep for a time and wake ready and willing to face the Trial. We... will keep her asleep for a time. She really needs the rest."

"She pushes herself too hard." Janet agreed. "I...was never a good role model for her."

"You are wrong." Trinity said with a shrug. "If you wanted a pansy who couldn't fight her way out of a wet paper bag or a wall flower with no brains whatsoever, or a weak willed ninny who would _faint_ if she ever saw a boy in the nude, then yes, you did wrong. If that _wasn't_ what you wanted?" She asked with a wicked smile that Janet slowly shared. "You done good, Janet."

"I tried." Janet said with a sigh. "I don't remember it all. But I did try." Trinity just looked at her and she flushed a bit. "Yes, I looked. I was..." She slumped a bit. "I was curious. I mean... the 'One Child' rule is fairly iron clad. There had to be a good reason why Zacharias and I had two." Trinity did not reply and Janet nodded. "You know."

"It is not something you see every day." Trinity said dryly. "When will the Reverend Mother get here?"

"Any second now." Janet replied. "I... I know what we did was wrong, but... she had a chance at a life."

"I am not one to judge, Janet." Trinity said with a shrug. "I wasn't there. I try not to second guess the person on the ground, but we need the Clergy in on this."

"In on what?" The Reverend Mother's voice preceded her arrival into the virtual world. Nikis stood at her side, his hands on his pistols. He did not trust her at all. Worry sounded, but not for herself. "How is Jesselle?"

"Her body died." Trinity said with a nod. The Reverend Mother looked ashen but nodded as well. "The Grineer poisoned her before they sent her through. There was nothing anyone could do but save her mind."

"I... feared that would happen." The Reverend Mother slumped, her face sad. "We will not be able to contact her again." Janet , Nikis and Trinity all shook their heads. "So... why contact us? I thought this was a Tenno matter."

"It is." Trinity said firmly, but then her tone moderated. "But her dad has the right to know she survived in some form. We will continue to try and get her to change her mind."

"Good _luck_." Janet and Nikis both spoke as one, with the same matching darkly humorous tone.

"Yeah." Trinity agreed. "We are going to need it. But... We also need something else. Jesselle's medical files in the Clergy databases. Who has access?"

"Nobody but our medics." The Reverend Mother said quickly. "Why?" She asked, puzzled.

"Bring Zacharias in." Trinity said quietly. The Reverend Mother stared at her and Trinity nodded firmly. "He can be brought in. This place is as secure as we can make it. Which is pretty darn secure. But we need him here. Now."

"Janet?" The Reverend Mother asked, but Janet would not meet her eyes. "What is going on?"

"Bring him in." Trinity said quietly. The Reverend Mother stared at her and then her eyes went far away. A moment later a human male stood in the middle of the room, his eyes huge.

"Janet!" Zacharias' voice was halting as he stared at the woman who had been his wife. "I..." He went still as Nikis held out a hand to him. "What?"

"Come here." Janet said as she opened her arms and her former husband went to her, crying. Nikis held him as Janet did, both offering support. "I can't go back, Zacharias. Never."

"I... I know." Zacharias buried his face in Janet's shoulder. "You have... a new place. A new job. Part of me will always love you. But... I do not... remember it all."

"Neither do I." Janet said as he hugged him again and let him go. "Right now, though... we have larger problems." Zacharias stiffened and turned to where Trinity and the Reverend Mother stood. "They know, Zack. The Tenno know about Jesselle."

"What?" The Reverend Mother asked, confused. "_What_ do they know?" Trinity answered.

"We know that Jesselle was born a _boy_."


	16. Chapter 16

**Old problems**

"_**What?**_" The Reverend Mother sounded more than shocked. Far, far more. "That is not possible. I have seen her medical files."

"Who was the charge medic?" Trinity asked quietly and the Reverend Mother stiffened, staring from her to Zacharias who wilted under her stare. He sighed, took a deep breath and stepped away from Janet to stand alone.

"I take responsibility." Zacharias said grimly.

"It was _my _choice, Zacharias." Janet snapped as she stepped to his side. Nikis just shook his head, but... he relaxed? Odd. "You did as I asked."

"What did you _do_?" The Reverend Mother sounded horrified now. "Jesselle... was...?" She broke off, her face working.

"Jesselle has an odd genetic makeup." Trinity said quietly. "She has both male and female chromosomes in equal numbers. But the disposition is towards male." The Reverend Mother stared at her and her face slowly went white. Trinity nodded "Every simulated clone we have tried to make has been male." Janet and Zacharias both bowed their heads. "She is a good kid. But she was a boy when she came out."

"I... wasn't all there. I asked him to make the child a girl." Janet said quietly. "I did not want to deal with seeing a boy. After... what happened... I... I couldn't handle a boy."

"You..." The Reverend Mother's face flushed as she turned on the slumped pair. "You did _that_... to a _newborn?_" She demanded angrily.

"We made sure it wouldn't hurt." Zacharias said quietly. "Janet was... I knew it was wrong, but... We had to..." He broke off as the Reverend Mother snarled at him.

"Shut up." The Reverend Mother snapped. "Janet!" She stared at the woman. "You... didn't tell the Reverend Mother of the time, did you?"

"I was... a bit out of it." Janet said sadly. "It was... a bit too much. They had me on a few different medications. I do not remember this, but I did _see_ it. Zacharias told me I had a son and... I nearly flipped out. I..." She slumped further and Nikis laid a hand on her arm. She covered it with her own hand. "There is no excuse. But I couldn't handle a boy. Not after... what happened. Not his fault, but I couldn't handle it. I was going to put him up for adoption. I was out of my head, babbling about not being able to handle a boy. Then Zack told me he had made a 'mistake'." She made air quotes around the word mistake. "That it was a girl. The machinery was easy to fool, to fake the records."

"You..." The Reverend Mother swallowed hard. "You did _that_... to a newborn." She repeated to Zacharias in a tone of shock.

"At that age, it was quick and easy. Painless. I could see Janet losing it." Zacharias said quietly. "I could see her sanity fraying. Then I laid Jesselle on her and Janet was back. What I did was wrong. I knew it then, I know it now. But Janet was okay. And Jesselle..." He knelt slowly, bowing his head. "She needed more help, but she is the greatest child a man could have hoped for. Annoying, exasperating, but the greatest." Janet nodded jerkily.

"So... Jesselle..." The Reverend Mother was trying to get past her shock and managing. "She is a girl. Fully a girl." Zacharias nodded. "How the _hell_ did you manage _that_ with no one the wiser?"

"Her genetic makeup is odd." Trinity said into the sudden silence. "She is not interested in either boys or girls, is she?" Zacharias shook his head silently and the Reverend Mother inhaled sharply. "It is genetic. Not her fault. But frankly? It is a good thing she isn't with you now, isn't it?"

"Yes." The Reverend Mother said slowly, calming. "She would have been up for her term of service in a year or so. She would have done it."

"And probably gone mad no matter how well medicated she was." Trinity said with a sigh. "Physically capable or no... Consensual or no... It would _still_ be a violation to her body. _His_ body. No." She shook herself. "_Her_ body or this will get way too confusing. Jesselle is a girl now. She has grown as a girl. She has lived her entire _life_ as a girl. _She_ is a _girl_."

"What will you do?" Zacharias begged.

"We will tend her." Trinity said with a sigh. "We will ward her, educate her and tend her." Now her voice turned hard. "You had no right to do that."

"No, he didn't." The Reverend Mother agreed.

"But... he helped me!" Janet protested, but did not move. "He loves Jesselle!"

"That... will be considered." The Reverend Mother said quietly as Zacharias bowed his head. "But he _did_ harm a newborn under his care. And he _lied_ about what he did, falsified records. Security will be waiting for you when you return to your body, Zacharias. They will take you to lockup and Jay to the Orphanage. The sisters there will tend him." Janet made a noise of fear and the Reverend Mother shook her head. "We will be gentle, Janet. But what he did _cannot_ stand or _every_ mother and mother to be who hears of this will be angry. With reason."

"I..." Janet collapsed in a heap , Nikis easing her to the floor where she cried in his arms. "I know. He did it for me. And she knows."

"She... _knows?_" The Reverend Mother staggered a bit. "You... _told_ her?"

"We had... the 'birds and bees' discussion when she was eleven." Janet said sadly. "She...wasn't interested in boys. At all. Ever. Then she came in one day and asked me flat out where babies came from. I... I was worried. Zacharias and I sat her down and talked to her. In private. She handled it well."

"I see." The Reverend Mother's mouth was set in a grim line. "I do not, have not and _will_ not condone this. We will _not_ sweep this under the rug. Zacharias _will_ be punished." Janet wilted and the Reverend Mother sighed. "Janet..."

"I know." Janet said sadly. "He did it for me and we both love Jesselle. As she is. Will she..." She turned to Trinity who shook her head.

"As it stands, we do not know." Trinity frowned. "We should be able to get past the problem, but it may involve some modification. If so, that will go up to the Council of Elders. No single Tenno has the knowledge base to do such genetic modification blind. Not even Iriana."

"Iriana would refuse to do it." Nikis said with a grunt. "You took a _hell_ of a chance with a newborn's life." He said sternly to Zacharias who nodded.

"I was losing Janet." Zacharias said quietly. "I make no excuse beyond that. I did it. I took responsibility and I take it. Janet... be well."

"You be _good_." Janet retorted and all of the visible faces smiled at Zacharias' expression.

"I will make sure he is." The Reverend Mother stepped forward and took Zacharias' arm. They both vanished. Only after they both left did Janet start to sob. Nikis knelt down beside her and held her as she cried.

"We will let you know what happens." Trinity promised Janet. "I am still angry. Furious actually. The Healer in me... that is." She shook her head. "The _mother_ in me understands."

"_She_ is a good kid."

* * *

**Back in a private virtual world**

Jesselle was no longer floating. She was lying on something soft and someone was brushing her hair gently as her mind woke up. She smiled as the brushing continued. It felt heavenly.

"Back with us, sleepy head?" Trinity sounded calm.

"Mostly." Jesselle said with a groan as she stretched a bit. "I... feel better. How long?"

"Time doesn't work the same way here as it does in the real world, Jesselle." Trinity explained gently. "We are outside of what most consider to be 'normal' time. Computer cycles."

"Oh." Jesselle said with a frown. "And that number would be so large as to be meaningless to me, no?"

"Pretty much." Trinity said with a smile. She wore robes instead of her warframe.

"Is it...time?" Jesselle asked after a moment of relaxing under Trinity's gentle ministration.

"Not just yet." Trinity sighed. "Jesselle... you know what your mom and dad did when you were born." Jesselle nodded silently. "Your body is predisposed to the male gender. Every simulation we do comes out male." Jesselle stiffened and Trinity sighed again. "Simulations are not perfect, but _every single one_."

"I don't want to be a boy." Jesselle said weakly.

"I know. We can make changes." Trinity kept her voice quiet and soothing. "But they will involve some discomfort. And frankly? They will be dangerous. Changing a person's genetics is not a simple on/off switch. For most of the history of Orokin, it simply could not be _done_ in the real world. They put a lot of effort into it though and managed. It took awhile. Cosmetic surgery? Sure. Hormone changes? No problem. Actual_ genetic_ changes? That took a lot longer."

"Because of people like me." Jesselle said in a monotone, only to have Trinity swat her on the arm. "Hey!"

"Your genetic structure is not your fault." Trinity said firmly. "So stop it. We have options but they require a consensus of Elders to agree on. There are simply too many possible problems for a single person, no matter how skilled, to be able to handle. Genetics is not simple in humans _or_ Tenno."

"So... What?" Jesselle asked, relaxing.

"Someone wants to talk to you. Her name is Raven." Trinity said with a nod. "She is an Elder and a legist." Jesselle started to sit up and Trinity held her down gently. "No, no. Relax. She isn't obsessed with formality and you still need rest. There is one thing..." She qualified when Jesselle relaxed back to the sofa she was lying on. "She was hurt by Alad V and her face... is a mess."

"Oh." Jesselle said a bit weakly. "I... see. I will be... polite."

"Be yourself." Trinity said with a grin as she looked away. A moment later another form appeared nearby. The female Tenno wore formal robes and her face was half covered by a veil. But the parts that were visible... Jesselle met her gaze unflinching. Trinity nodded her approval. "Elder."

"Hello Jesselle." The woman said gently. "My name is Raven."

"The Corpus hurt you." Jesselle said sadly. "I am sorry."

"Ah, girl..." Raven shook her head as she sat beside Trinity, taking Jesselle's hands in her own. "You were not involved. The Clergy was not involved. Alad V hid his madness from everyone, including his own masters. I survived. The remaining damage is superficial and they are repairing it. It is taking time." She gave Jesselle's hands a squeeze. "Don't look if it bothers you."

"I saw worse." Jesselle said in a tiny voice. Both female Tenno stilled and Jesselle continued. "I worked in the Clergy hospital. We got... some very bad cases through. I helped a bit." Raven stared at her and then pulled her into an embrace that Jesselle returned gratefully.

"So many people see the injuries and not the person." Raven said as she held Jesselle. "You are a good person."

"I try to be." Jesselle replied. "I can't be all the time."

"No one can." Raven agreed and let her go. Jesselle sat on the sofa now with Trinity on one side and Raven on the other. "Trinity says you know what happened to you."

"Mom was losing her mind." Jesselle said quietly. "Dad did what he had to. I never...felt like a boy. Was never interested in girls _or_ boys. Was late starting to menstruate, but everything worked. Works."

"We can make you a body, Jesselle." Raven said quietly. "Cloning is frowned on, but in special cases it can be used. The problem is... Every time we run a simulation, your clone comes out male. Putting you into a male body... would mess you up." Jesselle made a face and Raven nodded. "To fix that... which we can _probably_ do..." She sounded as if she wasn't totally sure of that. "Will require _extensive_ genetic modification. _Dangerous_ levels of modification. If we do it to a clone with no motive process..." She trailed off as Jesselle swallowed and nodded. It was odd, but known that even simple surgical procedures were wont to fail on a body with no mind present. And if it _wasn't_ a simple procedure...

"With no mind, the body will fall apart." Jesselle frowned. "So... I have to be _in_ the body when it is altered?"

"Not difficult to do if the person is prepared and trained." Raven said quietly. "But then we get into ethical gray areas. We make you a body and you go into it, then you own the body. But... until you enter, who owns it?" Jesselle frowned and Raven nodded. "And it gets worse. Healers of all kinds are sticklers for not hurting people. There _would_ be pain involved."

"I don't like pain." Jesselle said firmly. "But I like being stuck in a limbo _less_." Her dry tone brought smiles to the faces of both other women. "What do I do?"

"For right now, talk to me." Raven said with a smile that faded. "I need to get to know you. We have time here. This is not something to jump into feet first, Jesselle."

"All right." Jesselle took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "What do you want to know?"

"Let's start at the beginning, shall we?" Raven asked kindly. "You were Clergy. You grew up in the breeding colony. Did you like your life there?"

"Most of it." Jesselle shrugged. "No kid likes all of their life. If they do, they are either clueless or drugged insensate." Raven and Trinity both chuckled at that. "But for all intents and purposes? Yes. I enjoyed my life there."

"But..." Raven pressed.

"The breeding colony is tiny." Jesselle said as she sat back on the sofa. "It is not what I wanted to do with my life. I learned duty early on, but..."

The two Tenno listened as Jesselle explained who and what she was. It would take a while, but they had plenty of time.

"For what it worth, Jesselle." Raven said when Jesselle had finally finished. Trinity had produced tissues from somewhere and was helping Jesselle wipe her face. She had been crying quite a bit. "I think you are remarkably well adjusted from someone in your circumstances." Trinity nodded.

"They never lied to me." Jesselle said weakly. "I was... not expected, but they never lied to me, fobbed me off or left me to my own devices. Well..." She qualified. "Until mom was hurt and dad was captured by the Grineer." She shivered a bit in memory and Trinity held her gently. "And even then. The Clergy were kind. Dad... is in trouble." This wasn't a question.

"He lied, Jesselle." Trinity said quietly as Jesselle shuddered a bit. "Why he did it and what came of it is immaterial. He lied. He was caught. He will be punished." Jesselle looked at Raven who nodded soberly.

"The only good news is that you were unhurt." Raven said with a frown that pulled several of her scars oddly. "It could have been very bad. You know this." Jesselle nodded, silent and Raven sighed. "My recommendation will be to shift you into a body. We can alter it while you take the Trial." Jesselle made a face, but nodded. "There will be some discomfort. Even with the modifications, it will not be as your old body was. You will need time to acclimatize to it. The good news is that you do not lack for potential sponsors and you have nothing you have to do immediately. There is no rush."

"I..." Jesselle shook her head. "I need to do the Trial. Soon."

"Jesselle." Raven said sternly. "None of us want you to do it." Jesselle nodded. "We can put your mind into a new body. A _human_ body. Let you grow and live as a human."

"But I am not human." Jesselle's voice was whisper soft now. "Am I?" Raven looked at her and then at Trinity who laid her arm around Jesselle's shoulders. "I thought about it. You know. The gift... isn't something humans can do. Is it?" Raven and Trinity shared a long look. Finally, Trinity broke the silence.

"It is more than a psychic power, Jesselle." Trinity said quietly. "It is one and it isn't. Humans did have the gift, way back when. It was very, very rare. I know of less than hundred who had it even now. I had the gift before I was Tenno but had no idea what it was. It took decades of training before I understood what it was and how to do it. Other humans have shared the same gift. You do not _have_ to be Tenno to be a Cyberlancer. It helps. The warframe -if you assume the burden of one- will help a great deal. But Jesselle... It will change you. In so many ways. We have no _right_ to change you."

"No, but you have a need." Jesselle said quietly. "What do I do?" Raven shook her head, gave Jesselle a hug and vanished.

"You crazy girl." Trinity was crying softly now and Jesselle hugged her.

"I am ready." Jesselle said quietly. "And Trinity?" She hugged the sobbing Tenno tighter. "Thank you. For everything." She felt... a change. Then she was falling. But through it all...

Trinity was crying.

* * *

**Not long later**

She was curled up. She felt... odd. She was warm. It was... wet? She could not see. Could not move. But she felt warm and she was comfortable. For the first time in a long, long time, Jesselle was comfortable. She could feel things attached to her, but none of that mattered. She sighed and relaxed. She was... it was... marvelous. She was calm. It was...

Jesselle jerked as her dark world coalesced into something else. She could see. She was standing in a large room. It was... mostly filled with silvery mist. Trinity stood beside her. Somehow, she knew the woman was Trinity even though she had never seen the warframe before. A figure ahead of her beckoned ad she stepped forward, Trinity at her side.

"Welcome, Jesselle." The human looking man said quietly. She knew him. "Are you ready?"

"Yes, Master Hayden." Jesselle said quietly as she bowed to the First Tenno.

"I am ready."


	17. Chapter 17

**Self**

"Each Trial is different as each Tenno is different." Hayden Tenno said calmly. Jesselle knelt as Trinity had instructed her. "None of us are the same as any other, so the Trial must reflect that. So I will ask again, Jesselle, daughter of Zacharias and Janet. Do you wish to take the Trial?"

"I do." Jesselle said quietly.

"On very rare occasions, the Trial has proven mortal, Jesselle." Hayden said as he knelt in front of her. "If you refuse to go further or cannot succeed, it is no stigma on you. And even if you succeed, know this: It is not a end, Jesselle. It is a beginning."

"I understand." Jesselle was still quiet. "I must aid if I can."

"Why?" Hayden's voice held only calm query. "Why must you do this?"

"With any power must come responsibility." Jesselle said firmly. "My parents taught me that. I saw too much of what happens when ambition takes hold. When power becomes the be all and end all. When profit is all that matters." She bowed her head. "I will not be that."

"You do not have to be Tenno to do that." Hayden said gently. "You know this."

"I... do not trust myself with this power, Master Hayden." Jesselle said sadly. Trinity knelt beside her, the female Tenno's face stricken. "I am young and often foolish. I have taken foolish risks and done foolish things. I thought they were warranted, but all I brought my family was pain."

"I would not call most of what you did foolish." Hayden said after a moment. "Short sighted perhaps, but not foolish. You planned what to do. You acted with the information you had. You did what you could. Not always in the best way, but no one is ever wise all of the time. Not even me." He smiled a little but it faded. "If you do this and succeed, everything will change. You will no longer _be_ Jesselle, Daughter of Zacharias and Janet. You will be someone new. You will be thrust into the spotlight as a Cyberlancer. You will be forced to do things that are repugnant. Perhaps to fight, perhaps not."

"I am needed." Jesselle said quietly. "I wish to attempt the Trial."

"Very well." Hayden said heavily. "Your mind is set. Be warned..." He cautioned her. "You _will_ face your fears. You _will_ face your weaknesses and you _will_ face yourself. Not necessarily in that order. Once you enter the Trial, your powers of the mind and computer will be disabled and you will not be able to leave without forfeiting."

"I understand, Master Hayden." Jesselle said formally. "I am ready." She went still as he reached out to take her hands and pulled them to his lips. He kissed them and laid them back down.

"Go with my blessing as well, sister." Trinity said as she gave Jesselle a hug and rose to step away. "If you fail? We will aid you, tend you, educate you as best we can. If you succeed? We will mourn you and welcome you." Hayden laid a hand on Jesselle's head and smiled a bit forlornly.

Jesselle focused her mind and she was flying.

* * *

**Elsewhere**

Jesselle landed on her feet and took stock quickly. She was clad in a bodysuit. She was unarmed and her powers were gone, or muted just as Hayden had promised. She stood in a huge room that was bisected by an energy barrier. A bright red door helpfully marked 'Exit' was against one wall. She ignored that.

"Okay..." Jesselle said with a sigh. "What first...?" She jerked as an angry shout sounded from nearby. She spun to see...

"_You!_" The female Grineer had her face and was pounding on the energy barrier between the two of them to no effect. "I will _kill_ you! You lousy stinking weak-willed _base!_ You messed _everything_ up!"

"Better a mess than everyone dead." Jesselle said quietly. The Grineer wasn't going to be able to get at her that way. "Your queens would have killed everything in the Solar System -Grineer, Human and Infested alike- in their greed, but they did not care."

"You _lie!_" The other screamed louder as she beat on the barrier. Jesselle ignored her, looking around. But then... "No!"

The other's scream had Jesselle spinning in place to see a swarm of Ospreys descend on the Grineer. Jesselle jerked, but nothing was happening on her side. There were at least a dozen of the flying machines and while the Grineer female was strong, they were agile, zapping her with energy until she collapsed. Jesselle expected the Ospreys to continue firing, but they stopped.

"Well, well, well..." An unfamiliar voice sounded and Jesselle went still as a form garbed as a Corpus Executive stepped into view on the other side of the barrier. He was shaking his head. "_This_ is unexpected."

It wasn't anyone Jesselle knew, so _why_ was he so familiar? He waved and a pair of Crewmen appeared to grab the unconscious Grineer and haul her away as he strode to the barrier to examine Jesselle.

"Interesting." His voice was calm and matter of fact. "You are... interesting."

"And _you_ are?" Jesselle asked quietly.

"Oh, my dear..." The Executive chortled a bit. "That would be telling. Go on. Do whatever silliness you need to do. We will meet again." He turned to go.

"What will you do with her?" Jesselle asked, not moving.

"_It_ is a Grineer, my dear." The Executive said with a sniff as he looked back at her. "A clone. Not a _her_. Not a human."

"She has a gender." Jesselle argued quietly. "She is female."

"We shall see." The Executive said with a small, secretive smile as he vanished.

"That was creepy." Jesselle said to no one as she started forward, away from the exit. A door came into view on the wall in front of her and she approached it carefully. Nothing happened and she opened it to wonder. "Oh... _my_..."

Books. The room was _filled_ with books. Not haphazardly laying about either, but tidily laid out on shelves, apparently in some kind of order. She stared. Paper books. Actual printed paper books. She had heard of them of course, most had. But they were myths for the most part. The few that remained were priceless relics of Orokin and pre-Orokin history. A sign caught her eye. It said 'Public Library'. She swallowed hard. This was... She loved to read. She always had. This was a dream for her. She wanted... She _needed_... Jesselle froze, her foot halfway to touching the floor inside the door. She shook her head.

"A test..." She said weakly. "This has to be part of the Trial. But... _books_... _Real_ _paper_ books. Oh my god... This is..." She slumped a bit. She lusted for knowledge of any kind. She loved to read. Anything and everything she could find. It was her one true passion. "This is _evil._" She said sadly as she stepped back and slapped the 'door close' command. She shook her head as the door vanished. "I guess that is the point. My weakness. One of them..."

Another door appeared ahead and she started for it, not looking back. If she did... She wasn't sure she would be able to keep from entering the room with all the books if the door was visible again. She was shivering as she opened the door, but instead of books, a tiny body came running out, grabbing Jesselle's leg and hugging her.

"Momma!" The girl hugged her leg tight and Jesselle went still as she realized it was M-1 from the lab. The room behind the door was a playroom, set up for a small child with nothing breakable or dangerous.

"M-1?" Jesselle asked, stunned. "Why are _you_ here?"

"They ask me help." M-1 said proudly. "Me get see Momma again." She pulled on Jesselle's hand. "You hurt. Me see bad men take you. Everyone angry. But.. not now. You alive! Me happy!"

"M-1..." Jesselle said sadly. "I cannot be your Momma."

"Yes can." The girl pulled Jesselle down and Jesselle knelt in front of her, letting the girl hug her tight. "They say you like me. They say... you want _be_ like me. You can be Momma!"

"But I am not what you need, M-1." Jesselle lifted the girl in to her arms and inhaled the smell of small child. It wasn't entirely pleasant that smell, but it was memorable. "I am not a mother."

"But me want!" M-1 begged as Jesselle set her down. "Please! Momma!" She was crying now and the sound tore Jesselle's heart to pieces.

"Maybe we can do something." Jesselle said as she knelt in front of the girl again. Hope welled in M-1's tiny eyes and Jesselle hugged her again. "But right now, I have a Trial to finish. And you need sleep."

"Me no want sleep." M-1 said weakly, staring back into the room with undisguised fear. "Me sleep... me no remember when wake."

"What?" Jesselle demanded, then she kicked herself. M-1 wouldn't know. She hefted the girl and spoke aloud. "Who else is here?" She demanded. "Even in a virtual Trial, she would _not_ be _alone_! Who _else_ is here?"

"Give her to me." Sister Keiko appeared at the door. "She wanted to see you. It might be the last time." M-1 was crying as Jesselle held her. Then she gave a sigh and fell asleep. "No one can help her, Jesselle. No one."

"I bet _someone_ can. I should..." Jesselle said firmly. Then she paused and stared down at the sleeping child in her arms. "I... I _do_ want to save them all. All of the children. And... I _can't_..." Keiko did not move and Jesselle sighed deeply. She bent down and kissed M-1 on the brow. Then she deposited the girl in Keiko's hands, turned and stalked away. She did not look back even when she heard M-1 wake and start to cry again. She could not look back. If she did... she was lost.

The next door was at the end of the room and Jesselle approached it warily. It opened to an empty corridor. From the angle, it would lead toward the other side of the barrier. Jesselle shook her head and started off. Her lust for knowledge was a weakness and her need to help children in danger was as well. Both would blind her if she let them. She had to be clear headed now. She kept walking as a voice came to her ears.

"I wanted a boy." Zacharias' tone was cold. "Not a useless whiny brat." Jesselle did not turn from her path and the voice continued. "What good are you? You fail everything you do!"

"I fail too much." Jesselle said quietly as she continued. "But I have succeeded in a few things. I am not a failure and my father loves me. This is my fear talking. Not me." She focused as Trinity had taught her and the voice faded. But then an agonized scream had her jerking to a halt. She knew the voice! "Mom!" She spun to see Janet lying on the floor, covered in blood. Oracle lay still. Nothing living was quite so still. "No... _Mom_!"

She rant to the still form, but she could see instantly that there was nothing she could do. She shook her head savagely as she shut Oracle's staring eyes.

"_I know I will __**outlive**__ her!_" Jesselle screamed. "_**As human or as Tenno I will likely live longer than my mom!**_" She screamed louder. "Yes! I _fear_ it! No, I will _not_ let that fear break me!" She hugged the still form once and then laid it down and rose. "I am _not_ a warrior. I am _not_ a fighter. But I _am_ the Oracle's daughter." She shook her head. "This is not real. I know that. I know my fear that I will never see her again is strong. It...will probably be better if I never do. But I do love her. I will always love her. _Always_. She is not perfect, but she is the _best_ mom I could have ever hoped for."

She turned her back and strode away only to freeze as a door opened ahead of her. The Corpus Executive form before was clapping.

"Bravo." He said in a mocking voice. "Well played, my dear. You almost had me believing that you cared for a moment. But then again, I know you, Jesselle."

"Do you?" Jesselle asked quietly as she walked towards him. "Do you really?"

"I should." The man said with a smirk. "You know who I am."

"You are me as I might have been." Jesselle said with a shrug. The man looked at her and she smiled grimly. "Not so hard to figure out. You are me as I might have been if mom had died in that horrid place where I was conceived. If she hadn't managed to get free. But you are not me."

"Are you so sure?" The man asked, his eyes speculative.

"My name is Jesselle." The young woman said coldly. "My father's name is Zacharias and my mother's name is Janet. You? You are a figment of imagination. A wisp of dream. A nightmare brought to life in this virtual world. No more."

"Well..." The man smiled. It was not a nice smile. "Since you are so sure... Welcome home." He threw out a hand and golden code spun from it. Jesselle had a bare moment to scream as it grabbed her and pulled her into darkness.

* * *

**Later**

"Hard to believe you and I are related." The voice of the man she might have been came to Jesselle's ears as she woke. "Did you really think you could win here, you silly girl?"

Jesselle opened her eyes to horror. She was lying on an inclined surface, strapped to it. Her bodysuit was gone. Tube had been run into her body in various places, but her mouth was free. She had no illusions it was so she could speak though. He probably wanted to hear her scream.

"There are many ways to win." Jesselle said quietly as she looked around. The room was cluttered with gear that looked sort of medical but not quite. The Grineer version of Jesselle lay strapped down on a table nearby, her armor was gone and with it her prosthetic legs and eye. "So now you torture me." She said with a small frown. "Typical."

"Oh no." The male said with a shrug. "Nothing quite so barbaric. You will serve nicely without that nasty rebellious streak of yours." Jesselle quailed inside as apparatus arced down around her head. She knew what it was. Corpus brainwashing gear. "And of course, you will bear children for our use. We need more like you. But... More tractable." Jesselle paused and then relaxed. This was the Trial. It was not real. But it might as well be if she reacted badly. If she let him win. She would not.

"Tractable?" Jesselle asked, striving for calm as the machinery clamped around her skull. "Is that the word for it?" She looked at the Grineer but the other her wasn't going to rise. Ever. The gore that seeped from the single flesh and blood eye socket looked to be brain matter. She did not seem to be breathing. "Did you have to kill her?"

"No." The male said with a insincere smile. "But I wanted to. She annoyed me."

"And that is worth someone's life?" Jesselle asked after a moment. She could hear the machinery start up. She had a minute, maybe. "Where is the profit if everyone dies?"

"Oh not _everyone_." The male retorted. "Just those who cannot be useful. You _will_ be useful, sister dear."

"Two problems with that." Jesselle said quietly as pressure started to mount on her skull, the precursor to energy being directed in specific places. "Not that you can see them. And for that, you have my pity."

"Save your pity for yourself, sister dear." The other retorted. "I..." He broke off as Jesselle laughed grimly. "What?" He demanded.

"First problem: All of this is _Corpus tech_." Jesselle said, looking around. "I wonder..." She looked up and spoke a series of codes aloud. The machinery around her skull... deactivated and retracted. The tubes withdrew and the restraints unlocked! The male stared as she slid off the surface and stood glaring at him. "Silly man... you can't change _hardwired overrides_." A bodysuit appeared around her.

"You Clergy BITCH!" The other snapped as Cestra pistol appeared in his hand.

"Uh uh..." Jesselle said with a shrug as she spoke another code. The man exclaimed as the pistol in his hand started to smoke and then he threw it aside as it _exploded_. The blast was...sizable. He slammed into the wall and jerked to his feet, his face a rictus of rage.

"You cannot stop me!" The male version of her screamed as he threw a hand forward. Golden code arced towards her but... she stood her ground and it arced around her. It could not touch her when she was prepared. Not a power. A _choice_. She shook her head as he stared from her to his hand and back.

"Second problem..." Jesselle said quietly. "This is my mind. You are not _real_. Neither is any of this. You are a test. For me. You do not exist. You... do not..." She closed her eyes slowly, focusing on her breathing. "...exist. I am Jesselle. Daughter of Zacharias and Janet. You do not _exist_. I am who I am and you are _not_ me."

"_**You will never be free of me!**_" The male voice screamed.

"No." Jesselle said sadly, not opening her eyes. "No, I won't. I might have _been_ you. Once. I _will_ remember this. What might have been. But I am who I am because of my mother and father. I learned who I was from them. And you... _do not exist_."

A piercing scream sounded and then was gone. Jesselle opened her eyes to see the Grineer version of her lying still on the ground. Of the room and the evil male version of herself, there was no sign. Jesselle knelt by the Grineer woman who _was_ breathing. But from the way she was gasping...she not would be breathing for long.

"J-345987." Jesselle took the broken clone's hand in both of hers. "I am sorry."

"I..." The other jerked and turned the ruin that had been her eyes to Jesselle. "I was... wrong... Jesselle. You are... not weak..." She managed to croak out. Then she could only gasp as her life fled.

Jesselle sat there, tears falling. She held her dying sister's hand until the clone breathed no more. Then silver mists enveloped her and she was carried away.

If only it could carry her away from the pain.


	18. Chapter 18

**New**

Jesselle was kneeling again, but she was still crying. She felt arms surround her and Trinity's voice crooned in her ear as she cried.

"We didn't want you to do it, honey." Trinity was crying with her. "You did not _have_ to."

"I... I did..." Jesselle said through her tears. "I had to know. I had to see. I... I felt... I needed to do it." She buried her face in Trinity's shoulder as the ancient Tenno held her. "I... I am not this weepy..." She cursed her weakness, but a hand touched her shoulder and a deep, sad voice sounded from nearby.

"We just put you through hell, girl." Hayden's voice was gentle, but so sad. "A little crying is understandable. _Every_ Tenno does when they come out of the Trial. Every _single_ one."

"_Every_..." Jesselle stilled. "I..."

"You passed." Trinity said softly, hugging Jesselle tight. "Welcome, sister."

"I don't...feel... any different..." Jesselle said feebly.

"That is because we have been shielding you." Hayden's voice was still gentle, but held anticipation now. "There is only one bit left. The human woman known as Jesselle, daughter of Zacharias and Janet is no more. What you wish us to call you?"

"I..." Jesselle swallowed hard and then bowed her head. "I don't think... I didn't think I could do it."

"Seeing yourself through other eyes is never easy, honey." Trinity said sadly. "But you did it." Her voice turned proud. "You _did_ it."

"I... hadn't thought about it..." Jesselle said slowly. "I mean... I can't keep my old name?" She asked, looking up at Hayden through tear streaked eyes.

"You _can_." Hayden said with a shrug. "It's not mandatory. But you _did_ just change. Significantly. You do not feel it yet, but you did. We are giving you time to adjust before everyone crowds in to meet you. It will be a bit overwhelming." He said with a smile as he tousled her hair. "It's not every day we get a new sister."

"I don't understand." Jesselle said weakly. "I never did."

"It is not a deep, dark secret. It is just hard to understand if you do not see it for yourself." Trinity said as she shifted Jesselle a bit, so the girl was more upright. She reached down and took Jesselle right hand in hers. "Close your eyes."

Jesselle did as instructed and... the world opened up in front of her. More than the world. She was sitting in space. Trinity and Hayden sat with her, or she probably would have panicked. She could...feel... She looked around. She saw the planets orbiting the Sun, the myriad tiny dots that were ships plying the Solar System. She stared down at herself and froze as she saw her body composed of dark blue energy.

"Tenno are _not_ human." Hayden said gently as Jesselle stared at herself. "We _came_ from humans, but we are _not_. We are not flesh. We are energy, with all of the strengths and limitations of energy. The bodies we inhabit are machines, no more. The motive force that runs through them... is what we truly are." Jesselle felt her jaw drop and then she smiled a little.

"So... if my body dies..." Jesselle said slowly.

"If your body dies, and your energies are recoverable, a new body can be fabricated quickly." Hayden said with a nod. "If not? You will pass the threshold and either pass on or join us."

"Not... clones..." Jesselle said after a moment. Both Trinity and Hayden shook their heads.

"No." Hayden reassured her. "Close, but not quite. We are not copying. Tenno make new organic forms each time. They are very similar to the old ones, but not exact copies." He shook his head. "Be warned, there _are_ dangers. Different ones from the ones flesh based forms face, but no less lethal if the worst happens. If you take enough damage... Your patterns will degrade and be lost. We try to keep that from happening."

"So... You are...energy. I am too." The others nodded. "Could you go back?" Jesselle asked. "Make a body and walk in the real world?"

"We _could_." Trinity said heavily. "But we will not. We are needed where we are. The Orokin cannot do what we do. They are energy as well now. But not as we are. More... limited." She said with a faint hint of distaste.

"They are too busy being diverted by their Game." Hayden said sourly. "Frankly? Most of us who remain did so by choice. Not as we would have wished. But you understand about needs."

"I do." Jesselle said softly, staring about. "It is... beautiful." She sat in space and all around her, the emptiness sang with strange echoes. Energy, she realized. Different kinds. She could _hear_ radiation. Or... sense it somehow. It was odd, but she was not afraid. Not now. "So... beautiful."

"You haven't seen _anything_ yet." Trinity promised her. "But this _is_ very important. What do you want us to call you? We can call you your old name, but you are no longer that person."

"I... I guess not." Jesselle focused herself and thought hard for several seconds. Then she smiled a bit forlornly. "Call me Jesse. Both male and female. Like me."

"Well met. Jesse." Hayden said with a smile as they were back in the room, but it... it was huge. Far, far larger than it had been. And it was _packed_ with golden forms. Some in warframes. Some in robes. _All_ smiling at the newest Tenno. "My kin..." He stated as he rose with Jesse's hand in his. Trinity rose with them as Hayden pulled Jesse to her feet. She blushed a bit as they _all_ bowed to her. "This is Jesse. Our sister."

"I..." Jesse stammered a little but a form stepped out of the crowd. The Mirage warframe walked right up to her and gave her a gentle hug.

"It is going to be all right, Jesse." The other female Tenno said with a smile in her voice. "But it is _also_ going to be a bit overwhelming. My name is Tiana and I went through this too. We are with you, sister. Now and always. You are _not_ alone. _Never_ again will you face your fate alone."

"I..." Jesse was suddenly crying as minds converged on hers. The feeling was so like and so _unlike_ what she had felt with the Clergy. More. Cleaner. Brighter. Like she had stepped out of a dark room into a sunny day. She was so happy that she was crying. Try as she might she couldn't stop.

No one minded.

* * *

**Reality**

She was curled up. She felt... odd. She was warm. It was... wet? She could not see. Could not move. But she felt warm and she was comfortable. For the first time in a long, long time, Jesse was comfortable. She could feel things attached to her, but none of that mattered. She sighed and relaxed. She was... it was... marvelous. She was calm. It was..

Something happened and she jerked as something rippled around her. She was moving, tilting. She was... No! This wasn't right! She wasn't supposed to be...

_Easy Jesse..._ Healer Iriana's voice was gentle in her mind and Jesse relaxed. _It is going to be a bit of a shock. But I am here. You are fine. You came through fine. No complications. You felt the movement. We have to get you out. It is going to be cold and bright. If anything hurts, tell me._

_I... feel... _Jesse was jostled and then whatever was around her was going somewhere else. The warmth faded with whatever the fluid was. _It doesn't hurt. But... It's cold..._

_I know honey. _Iriana said sadly. _It will be over quickly. Brace yourself and keep your eyes shut._

Jesse did as instructed. She felt hands gripping her and she was lifted out of something and laid on something else. It was very cold, whatever she was lying on. She fought to keep her teeth from chattering. From crying out like a baby into the tube she could feel in her mouth now. She had always understood that it was the shock and cold of birth that made a newborn cry out so lustily the first time. That it was nature's way of making the infant draw breath and keep doing it. But she had never expected to _experience_ it consciously. It was jarring even with Iriana's presence close at hand and in her mind.

"Easy, girl..." Iriana's voice was gentle as something soft rubbed Jesse from head to toe. "There we go. You won't be able to talk until we get the tube out, but you are okay. It is okay..." A hand was on hers, holding it. Jesse gave the hand a squeeze and it squeezed back. "Anything hurt?"

Jesse felt through her senses and realized she could sense every bit of the body she was in. Every tiny bit. She could see the neurons firing in her brain. See the blood flowing through her arteries and veins. Feel the.. She jerked as something hurt.

"Where?" Iriana said quickly as Jesse tried to focus her senses.

_Pelvis._ Jesse said into the odd mental link she shared with Iriana. _Not a lot, but it is there._

"Let us check..." The hand that was holding Jesse's gave another squeeze and Jesse relaxed as best she could. '"Ah, it's your hip muscles. We altered your pelvis a little and they are not sure about where they are supposed to go. We can fix that quickly. Anything else?"

_Not that I can sense._ Jesse said with a mental frown. _I will need to move to be sure though. It feels... odd._

"It is a brand new body, Jesse." Iriana said with a chuckle. "It is _going_ to feel odd. Your voice will also not sound as it did. Your face, we reconstructed as to match your old one but your voice... we will need to work on it."

_You think I am going to __**complain?**_ Jesse asked with a snort into the tube and Iriana chuckled again.

"Some do." Iriana sighed. "There. Better?" She asked and Jesse focused on her hips. They felt better.

_Yes._ Jesse said with a sigh of relief as she moved her hips a little and nothing hurt. _I was worried about complications when they told me about the genetic modifications. I read all kinds of horror stories in med tech training._

"Frankly? I was too." Iriana said with a sigh as something was gently tugged from Jesse's throat. "Tube coming out. Good news was that we had a lot of people who were very interested in helping you. Lots of experts."

_I hope to prove worthy of such help._ Jesse said softly. She gagged a bit as the tube passed her throat and the hand holding hers squeezed again. _I have a lot to learn._

"And you have a lot of time to do it." Iriana said gently as the tube left Jesse's mouth. "There. It is out. Let me get you some water... Ah, here." A straw found Jesse's lips and she took a careful sip. It was just water but it tasted heavenly.

_That is good._ Jesse said as she swished the water around her mouth. Her mouth wasn't dry. It should have been, either from the drugs or whatever. But it wasn't. _Can I open my eyes or do you want me to talk first?_

"Whatever you feel up to." Iriana said gently and Jesse opened her eyes a slit. The light was bright and she closed them quickly. "Jesse?"

_Bright._ Jesse said with a wince. _No pain, just bright._

"Take it slow and careful. We can dim the lights." Iriana said and then sighed as Jesse opened her eyes again. "Silly girl. You _can_ hurt yourself."

_I am okay, Healer._ Jesse said calmly, her eyes roving and finding the Healer beside her. She focused her mind and then opened her mouth carefully. "I... am... okay..." She said slowly and carefully. It did not sound like her voice. "Sounds... strange." She blinked. Was Iriana crying? She was. "Healer. I am okay."

"You scared us all." Iriana said sternly. She dashed her tears away. "You scared us all, Jesse."

"I know." Jesse said sadly. "Was needed. But... Hope not to do such again."

"You and me both, girl. You and me _both_." Iriana said with a sigh. "Okay. We need to run a series of scans now that you are awake. Then we can get you a meal. Then...a _bunch_ of people want to talk to you."

"Joy." Jesse said with a sigh but she was smiling as she lay back. She was okay. It would be okay.

* * *

**A fairly busy hour later**

Jesse finished the meal quickly. It wasn't much, just some soup and a couple of containers of juice. Her stomach wasn't quite ready for any heavy food yet. She didn't mind it gave her time to think. About a bunch of things. A tooth ached and she focused on it, a line of code spinning through her nervous system to deaden the pain.

"Jesse." Iriana's flat tone had her jerking up short. "You know better." Jesse looked up at the Healer who was scowling at her in disapproval and sighed inaudibly.

"Third molar, left side bottom." Jesse said calmly. Her voice was...wrong. Subtly so, but it was. "Minor pain." Iriana nodded and then let out a sigh as she worked on some instrumentation.

"I know you think you should be self sufficient." Irina said as she finished. Jesse looked away from eh rand Iriana clucked at her. "No, don't even try. You are not ready yet. Not healed. You are still my patient, understand?"

"Yes, Healer." Jesse said with a sigh. "It... This is all new. I didn't want to bother you."

"Jesse..." Iriana said with a sound that was halfway between a sigh and a groan. "This is my _job_. I want to get you up and mobile. But that means you have to be honest with me. If anything hurts, we need to know. The changes were pervasive, but we got them done. Your body has not acclimatized to them yet. Things will feel odd. Things _will_ hurt. I would prefer to find out if anything is seriously wrong _before_ you get up from the bed."

"I know." Jesse said with a sigh. "It's just... I have an itch I can't scratch. Not physical." She hastened to say when Iriana looked worried. "But there are loose ends. Two in particular."

"I know." For once, there was no humor at all in Iriana's voice. "What Zacharias did..." She paused as Jesse coughed.

"What he did saved Janet." It felt wrong to call her mom that. But Jesse wasn't really Janet's daughter now. She was different. In so many ways. "Right, wrong or indifferent, he saved his wife from madness. He was caught, he will be punished." Jesse said sadly. "But he is not who I am worried about."

"I know." Iriana said quietly. "What little I have heard... worries me too."

The Oracles of Saturn _defined_ the word 'tightmouthed'. They had to be. Not many people knew that they were actual for real Oracles by the Orokin definition. As in people who could see the future and the past. Jesse knew because her mom was one. Just the thought of being able to see the future gave Jesse goosebumps. She didn't know anything about Janet's abilities beyond that -and was glad of it-, but one thing she did know. The human woman who had born her as a human was hurt. Badly.

"Healer..." Jesse said softly. "I need to ask something. Of the people who want to talk to me... Are Raven and Nikis on the list?"

"Nikis is." Iriana would not meet her eyes. "Raven is not."

"I need to talk to both of them." Jesse said firmly. "I will abide by any restrictions you place, Healer. I am not stupid even though I have acted it occasionally."

"You will be mobile by the end of the day." Iriana said with a frown. "Can it wait?"

"I do not know, Healer." Jesse said with a frown of her own. "I get the feeling... No." She shook her head a little. "This is not telepathic. It is not anything code related. It is just a feeling. But no. I need to talk to Nikis. Soon. Raven... whenever I can."

"Nikis I can understand." Iriana did not quarrel. She pulled up a holographic keyboard and started typing. "He and Janet are..." She broke off as Jesse coughed.

"They are an item, I know." Jesse said with smirk as Iriana flushed. "Trinity was discrete, but a few of the others didn't realize how sharp my hearing is with the code augmentation." Iriana's face turned thunderous and Jesse hastened to continue. "I do not mind, Healer. Janet deserves some peace. I do not know Nikis except by reputation, but if it helps him too... From what I gathered, they do love one another."

"They do." Iriana said in a soft voice. "They nearly died for one another." Jesse nodded again. "Jesse..."

"She is still my mom, Healer." Jesse said quietly. "She bore me into the world. If I can help, I must. If I cannot help... I need to know."

"So why Raven?" Iriana asked as she shut the keyboard down. "Both are coming."

"Two reasons." Jesse said with a grunt as she lay back. Iriana jerked and Jesse nodded. "The mid back. One of the vertebrae muscles is not... quite seated properly. The surrounding muscles are pulling it out of alignment." Iriana looked at her and she made small shrug. "I didn't deaden the pain this time."

"No, but you _are_ a pain." Iriana laughed a bit sourly as she started to work.

"Course she is." A booming voice heralded a night black Nekros warframe entering the room. "She is her mother's daughter. Hello Jesse."

"Grand Master Nikis." Jesse said with a nod. "Well met."

"I can't sponsor you, girl." Nikis said with a sigh. "I am too close. Too involved. Wouldn't end well."

"I know." Jesse agreed. "I need to talk to you about something else. But first... Ah." She smiled as a robed form hurried in. "Hello Raven."

"You wanted to see me, Jesse?" Raven asked, nodding to Nikis who nodded back.

"I have two things, both of which are related." Jesse said with a nod. "First, my mom needs help." Nikis slumped a bit and Jesse nodded. "It will take a lot of work but she does need help."

"Jesse..." Nikis groaned, but paused as she held up a hand.

"Grand Master Nikis..." Jesse said as Iriana coughed in warning. "I know it will not be easy. But I also know she broke her spine." Iriana jerked and Nikis stilled. Raven just stared from one to the other, the part of her face that was visible ashen. "But before we get into any of that..."

"Elder Raven, I ask you to sponsor me."


	19. Chapter 19

**Homes**

"Wait... What?" Raven asked, sounding stunned by this. She stared at Iriana and then at Nikis, but the gunfighter... crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. Was he whistling under his breath? He didn't do 'innocent' very well. "Nikis? What?" She demanded.

"He did not say anything." Jesse said quietly from where she lay. "He did not put me up to this. I do not know many corporeal Tenno. You were kind to me when you did not have to be."

"Jessel- um..." Raven shook her head. "_Jesse_..." She corrected herself. "I would not be a good sponsor for you."

"I disagree." Jesse said calmly. Iriana moved to stand by Nikis and her face was serene. But was that a smile that was trying to curve part of her lips?

"You just went through two massively traumatic psychological ordeals." Raven said firmly. "You took the Trial and you woke up in a new body. You are not thinking clearly."

"I think I am." Jesse looked at Iriana. "Healer? May I move my hand?" Iriana shrugged and nodded. Jesse held out a hand to Raven. "I am not a Warrior. Neither are you. I am new to this and need someone to keep me from sticking my foot in my mouth. Or worse."

"They will cut you a bit of slack." Nikis said mildly. "But as with anything, it isn't infinite." A strange bubble of amusement underlay his words. Raven looked at him and then at Jesse. "Might want to hear her out, Raven. If she is _anything_ like Janet... she will be awfully stubborn."

"_Pot_ meet _kettle_..." Iriana muttered not even close to under her breath. Jesse had to smile at Raven's visible expression.

"Jesse.." Raven said slowly. "I am not... I am not a good Tenno. I am trying to be better. But I am not."

"I don't care." Jesse said with a shrug as she laid her hand back down. It was shaking a bit. "There are several reasons I can think of that you would be better for me than someone like Olim would be." Raven looked at her and Jesse shrugged again. "He is a good man. A good _Tenno_." She corrected herself. "But he has a full time commitment already. I have no doubt he would do his best. But would it be fair to everyone _else_ who is counting on him? To distract him? All of the other Tenno I know of are the same way. Busy with other duties."

"Jesse..." Raven said with a groan. "Look at me!" She waved at the visible part of her face and Jesse shook her head.

"So?" The girl demanded. Raven stared at her and Jesse shook her head again. "Yes, you were hurt. But what is outside doesn't matter." Raven jerked and Jesse smiled a bit sadly. "I worked in the Clergy hospital, Raven. I know what you are doing."

"Jesse..." Raven growled, but Iriana was looking from one to the other, a speculative look on her face.

"You do not _want_ to get better." Jesse said sternly. "You _like_ having people react to your scars. To your disfigurement." Raven jerked as Nikis shook his head. She subsided a bit. "You _enjoy_ their pity."

"That is not true." Raven said firmly.

"Then prove it." Jesse said quietly. "Show your face." Raven stared at her and Jesse sighed. "Raven? Please. It is important."

Raven shook her head and reached for her veil. It came off in her hands, showing the ruin that was her face. Jesse nodded as she saw it, her face calm. Raven stared at her and then she smiled a little.

"You are going to fit in just fine around here." Raven said as she lowered her hands with the veil still off. Her mouth... didn't move as it should have. Jesse did not flinch from the sight and Raven slumped a bit. "I still think you are crazy."

"Been said." Jesse shrugged a little and hissed. Iriana was at her side in an instant. "Left shoulder, Healer. Not sure which muscle."

"On it." Iriana said with a frown as she worked.

"Why me, Jesse?" Raven asked. "I mean... there are lots of other Tenno, most of whom are not probationary Elders, who would be happy to do so."

"I have an ulterior motive." Jesse admitted. "Besides trying to get you to smile more." She said with a grin. The grin faded. "Olim has only found one other potential Cyberlancer, which means the three of us are going to be insanely busy. Once I get trained that is..." She said with a sigh of relief as the pain she had been experiencing faded. "Thank you, Iriana."

"It pulled when you held out your hand." The Healer said with a sigh. "When you get out of the bed, expect lots of muscles to be pulled in odd ways. We are going to be busy moving stuff for a bit. Good news is once they are set, they should stay in place."

"Joy." Jesse said with feeling. She nodded to Raven. "That is another reason. You won't put up with me if I start to whine." Raven tilted her head in query and Jesse sighed. "One look at you and I know what pain actually is. It makes mine... pale."

"It doesn't hurt now." Raven said mildly. "The docs do good work, Iriana especially." Iriana smiled at her but kept working.

"I know." Jesse agreed. "And... I am not demanding. I am asking. You can say 'No'." Raven looked at her oddly and Jesse smiled. "I wanted to give you first refusal. You _were_ kind to me."

"I do not think I am what you need, Jesse." Raven said after a moment. "I have... history with the Tenno. Much of it bad."

"Another reason." Jesse said calmly. "The kids?" She asked Nikis who nodded.

"This does not leave this room." Nikis warned. All three women looked at him and nodded. "I knew Nicholas. I knew what he was doing. I hated the Lotus for what she commanded me to do. To leave my son in the grip of people who hurt him. I did not agree with a lot of what Nicholas was doing and after what he did on Mars..." The Nekros trailed off. "I could forgive a lot, but trying to steal _nuclear weapons_ and _slaughtering_ the Marines sent to stop him was beyond the pale. I knew about the kids. He was planning to use the females of his clan as surrogates." Iriana and Raven had both paled but Jesse nodded. "I looked... but I never found them. I knew the lab he made them in wasn't in his dojo. He took me there once. But it was via portal. Could never trace it. I saw the pods. I was... angry..." he mused. "So angry. But... not quite insane. I knew what he was doing was wrong. But... he wasn't hurting anyone with that. They were not clones."

"Not _hurting_?" Iriana demanded, her face savage. "What he did to Karen and Miguel _didn't_ hurt them?"

"I didn't know about that." Nikis said quietly. Jesse slumped in the bed.

"So now we have five kids, one of whom will not survive." Jesse said not the silence that fell. "M-1 is not going to get any better." Irina shook her head. "Two who are out and two still in pods?"

"For now." Iriana said quietly. "They have lasted this long in the pods, they can wait a week or two."

"How many people have tried to kill N-1?" Jesse asked. Nikis shook his head and she pressed. "Grand Master Nikis..."

"Four." Nikis said with a sigh. "So far. Kid doesn't even dodge. Just sits there and lets them shoot him." He sounded old and tired now. "They... don't finish him off. He asked me not to stop them. I... I want to. But..."

"Justice must be done." Jesse said with a frown. Nikis looked at her and she nodded. "There has to be an end of some kind. Closure."

"He is not to blame for what the one he looks like did." Nikis said quietly. Jesse looked at Raven whose face was thoughtful.

"What exactly do you have in mind, Jesse?" Raven asked.

"The Clergy runs an Orphanage." Jesse said slowly, choosing her words with care. "Occasionally we get kids in who are hunted." All three other Tenno stilled at that. "They. Not 'we'... Sorry." She shook her head. "This is going to take some getting used to."

"It will come." Raven said with a nod. "So... what? Change his face?"

"Change his _life._" Jesse corrected. "He is blamed for what his progenitor did. But he is what? Five?" Nikis nodded and Jesse sighed. "He told me he has seen some records. Did you find anything?"

"No." Nikis said sourly. "Grineer trashed the place pretty thoroughly."

"So there is only one source of information." Jesse said softly. Nikis...stilled.

"Girl..." Nikis breathed.

"How long until one of them kills him, Grand Master Nikis?" Jesse asked reasonably.

"They want him to hurt." Nikis said sourly. "I am not a good man, but that...?" He shook his head.

"The Tenno need closure on this." Jesse said quietly. "Elder?" She asked Raven who frowned.

"What exactly do you propose?" Raven asked. "He is a child."

"A child who is the target of hatred." Jesse agreed. "From what little I have gathered, the anger at the one who made him is justified., But directing it at the boy is not." Raven nodded, a bit dubious. "In the Clergy, he would have his memory erased, be given an new identity and be put up for adoption. A new face, DNA changed. Everything."

"We can't be sure that Nicholas did not program him." Nikis said with a frown that was visible through his closed helmet. "Interrogations say no, but we cannot be sure."

"But with the memory cleansed... Any triggers or programs will be gone as well." Iriana said slowly. Jesse nodded to her and the Healer shook her head. "Jesse, he is _five years old_."

"And how long until someone shoots him in the head?" Raven asked softly. Neither Iriana nor Nikis would meet her gaze. "I know of two couples who would take in kids. But neither could protect them from vengeance seeking Warriors."

"We... cannot decide this." Iriana said heavily. "This is... not for us to decide."

"I know." Jesse blew out a breath. "I just felt it might be an option. Because no matter what else, those kids are innocents. N-1 may or may not be. M-1 and Z-1 _are_ innocents. Has anyone been trying to kill _them?_" The Healer and the gunfighter both shook their heads. "Well, it is an option."

"A novel idea." Raven mused. "Not... traditional, but some of our traditions need to go."

"That is another reason I would like you to sponsor me." Jesse said quietly. "You have no problem thinking out of the box." All three of the other Tenno glared at her and she wilted a bit. "Yes, I know."

"There _are_ limits." Raven said repressively.

"I know." Jesse said sadly. "I... I know." She slumped a bit. "I never thought beyond helping the kids. I mean... I was trying to talk to Mom and then..." She shook her head. "Things got out of control."

"Let's not have that happen again, shall we?" Iriana said with a forced kind of mildness in her voice.

"Is Curtis all right?" Jesse said suddenly. "I never realized... I never heard from him. I was... so out of it."

"He is all right." Iriana promised. "And Mindy, the girl who was changed..." She paused as Jesse paled. "It wasn't your fault, Jesse." She said quickly.

"I know." Jesse said as she put her hand to her face to brush away the tears that were falling. "But... I saw her face...She _wasn't_ fifteen. There is no _way_ she was fifteen."

"She wasn't." Iriana's voice was sad as she moved to the bedside and handed Jesse a tissue. "She does not blame you."

"_I_ do." Jesse said as she scrubbed her face. "I will... need to talk to them... The ones Curtis was with... at some point."

"Everyone here knows who they are Jesse." Nikis said quietly. "But we should keep the conversation secure."

"Right." Jesse agreed. She inclined her head to Raven who was obviously thinking hard. "Elder?"

"Why me?" Raven asked after a moment. "Your points... are germane. I give you that. I was... a bit complacent. I am at loose ends at the moment. I was contemplating... an offer from the people who Curtis works with." She said obliquely and Jesse nodded. "And your comment about traditional thinking... I am not a traditional thinker. I never have been."

"I was trained to think objectively." Jesse said with a nod. "But not to be blinkered by anything. It is hard."

"Yes it is." Raven agreed. She sighed and looked at Nikis who was humming something softly. "And you have no problem with this?"

"Why would I?" Nikis asked reasonably. Raven just sighed and looked at Iriana who smiled.

"In that case..." Raven said with an exasperated smile as she moved to stand by Jesse's bed. "I guess I am stuck."

"No." Jesse said softly. "Not if you do not want to."

"I would like to." Raven said with a grunt as she sat. "But after everything... I am not sure I trust myself."

"That is my last reason." Jesse said softly. Raven looked at her. "With me... close... You won't ever have to worry about being possessed by an evil AI again." Raven stared at her, the Elder's eyes going huge. "Olim and Trinity told me." She held out her hand to Raven again.

"Don't strain." Raven's voice was husky as she took Jesse's hand in her own. "I... I feel... unworthy of such..."

"So do I." Jesse admitted as Raven held her hand. "So do I." Raven smiled at her, cradling her hand close.

"I accept."

* * *

**Eight hours later**

"You are a sadist, Healer." Jesse said as she did another squat, grunting as her muscles protested. Her pelvis had been altered significantly by the genetic changes and her muscles hadn't been as quick to alter. So now, Iriana was having her change the old fashioned way. By exercise.

"Guilty as charged." Iriana said with a grin from where she sat working a set of consoles. She had access to all of Jesse's telemetry. "I said you would be out of the bed by the end of the day."

It had only been four hours since Raven had accepted the sponsor position. The Elder had gone to file the paperwork and Nikis had gone to do...whatever the Nekros did. No one dared ask.

"Yeah you did." Jesse said sourly as she rose to stand, panting. "But it still hurts like hell. I know, I know..." She snarled half heartedly as Iriana opened her mouth. "Pain is good. It tells us the nerves are working. But _sheesh_..."

"_Some_ pain is good." Iriana corrected her. "_No_ pain is bad, since that says the nerves are not working. _Too much_ is also bad, since that can overload the system." She glanced at Jesse as the girl shook her head. "And no _cheating_." She warned. "We need the baselines without your code messing things up."

"I know." Jesse groaned as she moved into a complicated sequence of movements. She had practiced this kata with Trinity in the limbo of cyberspace. But doing it in real life, with a not quite functioning properly body was very different. She kept the movements slow and careful and Iriana nodded approval. "Still fracking hurts." She said through gritted teeth.

"Watch your language, young lady." Iriana said mildly. Jesse stilled and Iriana sighed. "I am sorry. I didn't mean to..."

"Not your fault, Healer." Jesse said as she balanced slowly on one foot. "I am worried about Mom. But until I am fully mobile, there is..." She paused. "Healer?" She asked.

"Yes, Jesse?" Iriana replied quickly. Was that worry in Jesse's tone?

"My telepathy was short term, yes?" Jesse sank down, keeping her balance carefully. "And with the enhancements gone, it should be gone completely, yes?"

"I do not know enough about Cyberlancer abilities to say one way or the other." Iriana said, her tone tight. "Why?"

"I am hearing murmurs." Jesse said softly as she sank to the floor, bowing her head. "It... isn't Tenno mental communication. It...feels different." Iriana stiffened and then started working controls. "Tell me you have another of those circlets."

"They do not work on Tenno." Iriana said quietly as she worked. "I... am not detecting any telepathy on your part." Jesse slumped in relief, but Iriana did not relax. "So... where is it coming from?" She rose, a hypo in hand. "I can suppress..."

_**Do not.**_

The voice was everywhere. Jesse screamed and recoiled as something seemed to surround her. Iriana froze in place. It was... not human, that voice.

_**Have no fear, Oracle's child. Healer.**_ The voice moderated a bit. _**You are needed. Both of you. Come.**_

"Come where?" Jesse demanded as she fought whatever was holding her. "Let go!"

"Jesse!" Iriana was at her side in an instant. "Don't fight! Whatever this is, don't fight it!"

_**This is the only way. She needs you. Both of you. Do not resist. It will be swift.**_

Jesse managed a short, sharp scream as the world around her flashed. She grabbed Iriana who had grabbed for her. Both held each other as the world went mad. It...wasn't a portal. It wasn't Void travel. It wasn't anything Jesse had ever done before. She threw out code and it bounced back to her, signals garbled. She heard Iriana screaming, heard her own screams mingled with it. Then she was falling. Then she was _in_ something. She was floating. She was underwater! She focused as she had been taught and sought the surface. It was... a long ways. Further than her body's oxygen reserves would last. She focused on Iriana and the Healer was right beside her, but...

Something grabbed her and she flailed, but whatever held her was far stronger than she was. Then something was forced over her face and she felt... air. She opened her eyes to stare through the mask at... the two forms that held her.

_**Oracle needs you, Tenno Jesse.**_

The voice was still overpowering, but it was more gentle as the two _mermen_ hefted her and started off with flicks of their tails. She stared as two more pulled Iriana along. The Healer also had a mask over her face.

_**Your mother needs you.**_


	20. Chapter 20

**Innocence Lost**

Jesse wasn't sure where she was. The water... did not look right. The forms that held her were humanoid. Sort of. Instead of legs, both had tails, so mermen. But those were just legends. There was very little light. Indeed, the only real light she could see were the illumination from the masks she and Iriana wore and that was muted. From what she remembered, code was...unpredictable underwater. So she did not even try. But she could not just let them carry her to an unknown fate.

"Where are we?" She demanded. Either the two forms towing her did not hear her or they were ignoring her. "Hey!" She demanded. "Where am I?"

_You are in no danger, Oracle's child._ The voice from before came into her mind despite a hastily erected barrier. _We will not harm you. You are needed. The healer as well._

_And __**asking**__ would have been too slow? _She snapped in her mind

_Yes. _The matter of fact reply set Jesse back on her heels. _Your mother is hurt very badly. _Jesse stilled and the voice spoke again._ Yes. We fear the worst._

_No..._ Jesse begged. _What can I do that you cannot? If you are powerful enough to pull me across the Solar System..._

_We had help. _The voice replied. _Oracle Janet is well regarded by many people. We do not know if you can aid her. We pray you can._

_What is wrong with her? _Jesse was reeling from this. _Trinity said her feel was...wrong. That there was a severance in the area of her spinal column._

_The First Trinity was correct. _The other replied. _She attempted to rise from the burn tank she was in and fell. She landed on her back and one vertebrae slipped. It severed her spine._

_And you cannot heal this?_ Jesse begged.

_We have tried._ The other replied. _Her own power is keeping us from aiding her. We do not know why. Without care, she will die._

_Then we need to make sure she __**gets**__ care. _Jesse said firmly. _And... will I see things I should not?_

_Some, perhaps. _The voice replied. _But you do not know where you are and there is no light._

_Intentionally I presume._ Jesse said with a smirk, but there was no response. _Figured._

_You will have no references to access. _The other said in slightly snooty voice. _And the method of travel is not something you will be able to replicate._

_So how do I get back? _Jesse stilled. _Or __**do**__ I?_

_You will return from whence you came. _The other promised her. _We owe Oracle Janet that much at the very least. We have no quarrel with you or you with us. We need your help and the Healer's. Oracle Janet knows her and trusts her._

_Fine. _Jesse wasn't happy with this, but she wasn't going to fight when it was clear she could not win.

She jerked as something huge and dark appeared in front of her, but she relaxed as she realized it was a structure of some kind. Dim light came from windows. Before she could get a good look, she was approaching it quickly. Part of it slid aside, showing a chamber of some kind. Her guides/guards/whatever they were propelled her into the small chamber. Iriana followed a moment later and the door sealed. Jesse grabbed Iriana's hand and the Healer pulled her close as... the fluid they were surrounded in... lowered.

"Some kind of reverse airlock?" Jesse asked through the mask she did not dare remove just yet. Iriana shrugged as the fluid level dropped faster. "Underwater..." She mused. "Not many places that we could be..."

"Jesse..." Iriana warned. "Not here. Not now. I heard your conversation."

"Mom is hurt." Jesse said with a sigh. "I knew it was bad... but if it is bad enough they grabbed us from where we were..."

"Then it is _bad_." Iriana hugged Jesse tight. "Be strong." The fluid was gone now and another door opened. A soft voice spoke from nearby as white garbed woman approached.

"You may take off your masks." The woman wore a full face veil but she could not have been much older than Jesse had been before she became Tenno. "This area is pressurized to one atmosphere." Iriana took her mask off cautiously and took a sniff. She nodded to Jesse who did likewise. "I can take them if you wish."

"That was a hell of a ride." Iriana said with a shrug. "And a hell of a swim. If you do not mind... I think I will keep mine."

"You will not be able to escape from here." The woman said with a shrug. "But if it makes you feel better, by all means. I am Francis F-87. I have been tending Oracle Janet."

"How bad?" Iriana asked, glancing at Jesse who remained where she was.

"Please follow me." Francis F-87 wasn't quite begging, but it was close. "It is bad enough that we fear we may have to clone her a new spine."

Iriana and Jesse both winced at that. She started off and the others followed her. Jesse kept her senses sharp and she could see movement at times around them, but nothing concrete. The air...seemed hazy. She glanced at Iriana and the Healer nodded even as she continued to ask Francis F-87 questions in rapid fire doctor-speak. After a moment, Jesse spoke.

"Where are the other attendants?" The young Tenno asked. "I thought there were more than twenty of you. They cannot _all_ be tending my mom."

"They have other duties." Francis F-87 replied quietly. Jesse wasn't mollified however. Something about her responses bothered the young Tenno. A lot. "There are four med techs on staff. This is not my shift but I was delegated to meet you." That made sense... but... Something was off. Something was wrong.

They passed a small room with a single golden chair in it. Jesse glanced at it and kept her pace going. It was hard. She recognized it from tales told to her by another person she had talked to. A glance at Iriana showed the Healer had seen it too. But the Healer continued to ask questions about Janet's condition. Finally, she took a breath and Jesse spoke again.

"Is Grand Master Nikis here?" Jesse asked calmly. Francis F-87 looked at her and Jesse shrugged. "He is in love with my mom. I assumed he was coming to see her when he left."

"He is on his way." Francis F-87 replied. "We don't know when to expect him."

"Always when least expected." Iriana said with a grin that did not touch her eyes. She knew, Jesse saw. She knew why she was here too. She began to focus herself, code swirling just under her skin.

"Stop." A new voice said sharply. Iriana and Jesse both froze as a dour legged form stepped out of the shadows. "Whatever you are planning, there is no need." The sea turtle was trying for calm.

"Then explain to me why there is an AI interface chair in the room back there." Jesse said quietly. "Like what the Orokin did to Mari." That had been... bad. The only reason an Orokin bioengineered plague of nanotech monstrosities hadn't been unleashed on the solar system had been the sacrifice of a woman named Mari. She and Jesse had talked in the database at length about coding and robotics. Iriana paled but stepped to stand beside Jesse as Francis stayed in place. Like a doll. Or a _puppet_ whose strings had been cut. "Tell me you didn't take control of all of them." Jesse said with a sigh. "Mother trusted you."

"Yes she did." The turtle said quietly. "And we are trying to help her. We are _trying_ to _help_." She said firmly.

"You put me in that and all _hell_ is going to break loose." Jesse said with a snarl. "Forget Olim and the other Tenno. _Nikis _and _Mom_ will go ballistic."

"We are not going to." The turtle said with a human sounding sigh. "It is not for you. The person who will assume it will do so of his or her own free will."

"Free will..." Jesse said softly. "_What_ free will? I wondered... You know..." The turtle seemed to tense. "I wondered how when I focused my mind on my _mother_, my mental probe wound up a long ways away from her. Talking to people I had never _met_. _That_ set me on the path to here." Iriana stared from the turtle to Jesse and back. "Right to _here_..." She mused. "Well played. Now you appeal to my need to save innocents I take it?"

"Jesselle..." The turtle said slowly.

"My name is _Jesse_." The young Tenno said sternly. "I may not be a Warrior, but I _can_ deny you your prize. I am here to help my mother. No more. No less. I will not help you." The turtle sighed again.

"We can make you." The turtle said calming.

"I am sure you can." Jesse said mildly. The turtle seemed to stiffen and she smiled grimly. "The same way the Grineer did. Take control. Use my body without even a by your leave. Is that what you did to her?" She indicated Francis F-87's still form.

"We put them all to sleep." The turtle sounded abject now. "We haven't hurt anyone. We didn't want anything to happen to Janet. We didn't! She hurt herself. We have been trying to help and she won't _let_ us."

"Because of what you did to me." Jesse snarled. "So now you take control of me and Iriana? And... what? Put me in the machine and tell everyone I drowned or something? Trying to _escape?_"

"No." The turtle said firmly. "We are not the Grineer. We want to make a difference. We need Janet to do that. She needs you." Jesse sank into a crouch and the turtle sighed again. Iriana froze in place, her face blank. But whatever was holding her didn't affect Jesse. "Girl... don't... Aw shit. Jean. Quick!"

Something stung Jesse before she could move and darkness took her before she could even realize what had done it.

* * *

She was walking. Someone's hand was on her arm, guiding her.

She was lying on something. Someone was holding her hand.

She was screaming as her back hurt. Someone was wiping her brow with a cold cloth.

She was floating. Someone was singing to her.

She was sitting. Someone was spooning something savory into her mouth.

She was cold. Someone was wrapping her in something warm.

She was...

* * *

**Several hours later**

"Have you lost your _fucking_ minds?"

Nikis was in rare form as Jesse woke up completely. She tried to move and couldn't. She couldn't see. Couldn't speak. She cast out a tendril of code and it reported she was lying on a table. She was surrounded by medical machinery. Nikis stood by the door to the room, his posture stern and he glared at the turtle that had been talking to her.

"Of all the good for nothing, stupid ass, batty as a _belfry_ ideas... this one takes the **_cake_**, Caroline!"

"We haven't hurt her, Nikis." This was the turtle. "She was going to fight. We didn't want to hurt her or Iriana. She was going to fight. She thought we wanted _her_ for the interface."

"I told you building that thing was a bad idea." Nikis said with a growl. "Snatching them out of the dojo was a _worse_ idea. Karl's people are going _nuts._"

"Janet is _finally_ responding to our treatments." Caroline said with a sigh. "We can put them back."

"You send them back and they _will_ track you." Nikis snapped. "The _First_ are looking for her, Caroline. The _First_! _All_ of them. You tore a _huge_ hole in the Balance. And now... what the _hell_ did you do to her?"

"Janet's spine was decaying, Nikis." Caroline said softly. "We needed a transplant. Someone compatible."

"You..." Nikis seemed at a loss for words. "You..." He shook his head. "You didn't..." He sounded weak suddenly. "You... idiots..."

"Nikis, it _worked!_" Caroline said quickly. "Janet is better!"

"And you tore a bit out of her _daughter_ to do it!" Nikis thundered. "Do you have any idea how she will react?" He stilled. "You do, don't you?"

"She reacted badly to what she saw us do." Caroline admitted.

"You..." Nikis seemed on the verge of exploding. Instead, he stalked to the table where Jesse lay. "How much of the paralytic did you give her?" He demanded as he laid a hand on Jesse's head. The touch...felt tender. His other hand, hidden from the turtle, motioned to the tendril of code and Jesse made it jump to him. _Can you hear me, Jesse?_

_I can hear you, Grand Master Nikis. _Jesse said quietly. _Iriana...is she all right?_

_She is tending your mom. She doesn't know what happened to you. _Nikis said and switched to out loud. "How _much_, Caroline?"

"She struggled every time she woke. Once in the _surgical apparatus_." Caroline said in a monotone. "We had to..."

"How _much?_" Nikis demanded angrily. _Be careful, Jesse. I can't tell how much they can hear of this._ Jesse sent a mental acknowledgement.

"All told, thirty milli-units." Caroline said heavily. "Over a five hour period."

"Well, _that_ at least was smart." Nikis snapped. "You didn't make her an addict."

"Give us a _break_, Nikis!" Caroline roared right back. "No, we didn't want to do it without her permission. We didn't want to hurt her! If she had fought, she would have been hurt! She wouldn't listen. If she had listened, we would have explained."

"So instead, you _drugged_ her and took bits of her body out without her permission." Nikis snapped. "Same difference."

"Nikis..." Caroline said heavily. "I do not want to argue with you. I wanted to help Janet. That is all."

"Is it?" Nikis demanded.

_They pushed my probe to the Infested._ Jesse said softly across the mental link. _They put this in motion. I do not know why._

_I will find out. _Nikis promised. _Save your strength and be ready._

"Nikis, please..." Caroline said heavily. "We wanted to help."

"Janet was doing fine, Caroline." Nikis said sternly as he turned from the table Jesse lay on, but he had palmed the code fragment and held it concealed somehow. "Not perfect, but who is?" He shook his head. "Wake her up. Get her mobile."

"Nikis..." Caroline protested.

"No, you are _not_ going to wipe their memories." Nikis snapped. "If, and I do say _**if**_ I take them both back, unharmed, quickly, I _may_ be able to head this off before a _horde_ of Tenno sweep in here through your defenses and tear your nice little hidey hole to _shreds_. _Maybe._" Jesse stilled at that. "You didn't think this through, Caroline. She is Tenno. _New_ Tenno at that. A _Cyberlancer_ at _that_." The turtle retreated a pace and Nikis advanced. "Did you _really_ think they would just _ignore_ you snatching them? Let alone the _rest_ of this. Wake her up."

"You know she is already awake." Caroline said softly. "A moment..." A flipper reached out to touch something and a hum that Jesse had barely noticed faded. "She is loose."

"Why?" Jesse begged as she sat up, aware she wore a white robe like the attendant who had met her. "Why do this? To mom? To me?"

"Come." Caroline said softly and left the room. Jesse stood up too quickly and Nikis caught her as she staggered. The turtle did not move fast and they caught up quickly. After a few steps, Jesse did not need Nikis' help to walk, but she was grateful for his presence. But... her rear end hurt.

"What did you do to me?" Jesse demanded.

"We took a small piece of your spinal cord." Caroline said quietly. Jesse stilled and Nikis shook his head. "Humans and Tenno have a vestigial tail. You do not use it. We took a centimeter of the spinal cord from that and transplanted it into your mother to fix her broken spine. There is no impairment to you or her. She is healing finally."

"You did this... to help my mother?" Jesse said, disbelieving.

"No." Caroline said softly. "We did this to bring you here so you could talk to your mother and we could ask -beg- your help."

"You have an odd away of asking for help." Jesse said with a snarl.

"We cannot leave this place, Tenno Jesse." Caroline's voice was soft. "I need to show you something and then I will take you to your mom. After that... you can do as you wish." She led them into a small room that seemed to be all window. "Lights." She said calmly and the world lit up.

Jesse stared out the window into... wonder. The cavern was underwater. And it was filled with... small finned forms. Humanoid, but with tails. All of them moving, darting to and fro. But... organized. She turned to Caroline.

"They are on recess right now." The turtle said with a nod. "They go back to class in twenty six minutes."

"How many..." Jesse said as Nikis drew a deep breath. "And how old?"

"In this group... Thirty seven. A hundred and four total. The eldest is your age." Caroline said quietly. "The youngest? Less than a year. You ask why I did what I did? You ask me why I dared anger everyone who knows me? Why I angered my own _brother_? That is why." She nodded to the scene outside the window.

"Children..." Jesse said weakly. "Aquatic adapted children."

"Innocents. We are the only hope these kids have, Tenno Jesse." Caroline said with a snap. "Nikis..."

"Not my call." Nikis said with a sigh.

"I need to talk to my mom..." Jesse said weakly.

"Right."

* * *

**A few minutes later**

"Jesse?" Iriana looked pale, worried. "You okay?"

"No." Jesse said weakly as she sat by the gel filled pool her mother lay in. Iriana moved to stand beside her, scanner whirring. "They... took part of my spine to heal mom."

"Those lying scum!" Iriana snapped, her scanner playing over Jesse's body. "They said you were tired. That you were asleep."

"I was." Jesse said sadly as she looked at her mom ."Is she...?"

"She is in and out of consciousness." Iriana said sadly. "They did a good job. She is healing. But... she is also angry. Now I know why."

"They... hurt you..." Jesse and Iriana both turned to see Janet's eyes open. "They..." Jesse took Janet's hand in her own and held it, wary of the burn dressing.

"Mom." Jesse said softly. "Did you know why they did it?" Janet stared at her daughter and slumped a bit.

"They had no right." Janet said, her voice angry but so weak. "They gave you a shove, pushed you to do what they wanted. They _used_ you. They let you be _abused_. They let you be _changed_. Oh Jesselle..." She was crying now.

"Easy, Mom." Jesse said sadly. "It's okay. I am here. It's going to be okay."

"They didn't see all of what would happen." Janet said sadly. "I did. I tried to warn them. Moved too fast. Hurt myself. I... Jesselle... No..." She sighed. "Not your name anymore, is it?"

"You can call me anything you _want_, Mom. You earned that right." Jesse said as she held her mom's hand. "For now? I am here. I will see about helping you. We have a mess to clean up."

"I..." Janet sighed and slumped back into her pool. "Don't... let them... use you... Jesselle..." She sighed again and fell asleep.

"I won't." Jesse said firmly as she laid Janet's hand back down. She turned to Iriana and the Healer jerked back from what lay behind Jesse's eyes. "Have no fear, Healer. I am not angry. I am... calm." She said slowly, forcing her emotions to recede.

"Jesse..." Iriana said slowly."What do we do?"

"Protect the innocent of which I am no longer one." Jesse said quietly. "Mom needs our help. We need to find out what exactly is going on here and then... we need to keep the Tenno from storming this place."

"Good thing I don't like easy..." Iriana said with a shiver. "And who here is innocent?"

"That is what I am going to find out." Jesse said as she sat by her mother. Her code surrounded her in golden waves. Come what may, she was ready.

"That and why they needed me _not_ to be innocent."


End file.
